

THE LAND 
WE LIVE IN 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

ON ITS 

HISTORY * GEOGRAPHY 
jg - -• * CIVIL GOVERNMENT * * 
AND RESOURCES 



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The Land We Live In. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



ON UNITED STATES HISTORY. 




By W. I. CHASE. 



PREPARED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS. 



[third edition.] 




CHICAGO: 
A. Flanagan, Publisher. 
1891. 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the office of the Librarian 
at Washington, D. C., by A. C. Chase, 1891. 



f i ■ i 



PREFACE. 



The following series of questions and answers upon the 
history of the United States, from the colonial period down 
~o the year 1888, was prepared by the late Mr. W. I. Chase, 
with most assiduous care, and was completed by him in 
August, 1888. Mr. Chase died in 1889, and his plan of 
continuing this work so as to include the geography, civil 
government, institutions and resources of the United States 
as well as its history, has not yet been carried out. The 
great favor with which these historical questions have been 
received in pamphlet form has led the publishers to 
continue their publication in more permanent shape as 
here given. We have no hesitation in asserting that 
no such clear, concise and truthful resume of our na- 
tional history was ever presented before. Certain periods, 
that in most histories are, for political reasons, slurred over 
if not unfairly presented, as the period immediately preced- 
ing the civil war, and the reconstruction period, are here 
described frankly and fully, and at the same time with such 
entire freedom from partisan bias, that no honest reader can 
wrest the account to cause for offense. Mr. Chase had an 
exceptional power of singling out the well-substantiated 
from the doubtful statements of history, and of transcribing 
the former clearly, without blurring their outlines by the 
addition of personal or party opinions. No less noteworthy 
was his power of grouping facts, so as to show their relation 
to each other. " Facts," he said, " are mere dead timber, 
which in the rough is neither ornamental nor particularly 



vi. 



PREFACE. 



useful, but which, after selection and arrangement, may 
become an edifice possessing both beauty and utility. The 
object of the teaching of history is the construction of 
mental edifices, and not the tabulation of facts like so much 
cordwood according to arbitrary classification." 

In review work, and in examinations, this little manual 
will be found of the greatest value to both pupils and 
teachers. It is not meant to take the place of fuller histories, 
but as a guide to what is of most importance in those 
histories it is unequalled. 

Chicago, August, 1891 C. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE, 

I. The Colonial Period 9 

II. The Revolution 31 

III. The Formation of the Constitution. . 50 

IV. The Organization of the Union 56 

V. Washington's Administration 61 

VI. Adams's " 65 

VII. Jefferson's <c 69 

VIII. Madison's " 76 

IX. Monroe's tl 80 

X. John Q. Adams's " 84 

XI. Jackson's it 87 

XII. Van Buren's ' 94 

XIII. Harrison's & Tyler's " 97 

XIV. Polk's « 102 

XV. Taylor's & Fillmore's ci 109 

XVI. Pierce's " 112 

XVII. Buchanan's « ........ 118 

XVIII. Lincoln's " 130 

XIX. Johnson's " 153 

XX. Grant's * 165 

XXI. Hayes' « 176 

XXII. Garfield's & Arthur's " 185 

XXIII. Cleveland's « 193 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Its History, Geography, Civil Government, Insti- 
tutions, Resources, Etc. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



CHAPTEE I — THE COLONIAL. PERIOD. 

1. When does the history of the United States properly be- 
gin? 

With the union of the American colonies as a separate nation. 

2. Give the history of the formation of this union, with 
dates. 

The first continental congress to consider the union of the 
colonies to resist the oppression of the English government 
met at Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774. It simply recommended 
united action. The second congress, which met May 10, 1775, 
was authorized (by the circumstances of its election) to form 
a union and to legislate in the name of the united colonies. 
It was not until July 4, 1776, that this congress saw fit to de- 
clare the separation from England final and irrevocable, and it 
is with this Declaration of Independence that the history of 
the United States naturally begins. 

3. How many and which colonies united to form the new 
confederation ? 

Thirteen. These were — stating them in the order of their 
age — Virginia, Massachusetts. New Hampshire, Hew Ifork, 



10 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 
There was also a fourteenth colony, Vermont, that claimed and 
exercised the right of self-government, but its rights were dis- 
puted by other colonies, and its independence was not imme- 
diately recognized by the confederation. 

4. What territory did the colony of Virginia occupy? 

In actual settlement but a small portion of the present state 
of Virginia. Her territory, however, included both Virginia 
and West Virginia, and all the country west of these as far as 
the Mississippi river. From this territory were taken Kentucky 
and the southern portion of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Vir- 
ginia also laid claim to what is now the northern part of those 
states and the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, but here her 
claim was traversed by those of Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

5. Upon what were these claims based? 

On the original patents issued by King James I of England. 
By these patents the vast territory named Virginia, extending 
from Cape Fear to Passamaquoddy Bay, was divided between 
two rival companies, at London and Plymouth, for the pur- 
poses of trade and settlement. 

6. When, where and by whom was Virginia first settled? 
The first permanent settlement was made at Jamestown, 

Virginia, in 1607, by a colony of Englishmen sent out by the 
London company. 

7. How was the colony of Virginia governed ? 

At first by a council appointed by the king, and after 1619 by 
a legislative assembly elected by the people and a governor 
appointed at first by the company and afterward by the crown. 

8. How long did the company continue in existence ? 

In 1624 the London company was dissolved and Virginia 
became a royal province. It so continued until the revolution, 
with the exception of a short period of seven years from 1677 
to 1684, when a proprietary government was established under 
a temporary grant from King Charles II to two personal favor- 
ites, Lords Arlington and Culpeper. 

9. What was the population of Virginia at the beginning of 
the revolution? 

About 560,000. Virginia was the most populous, as well as 
the richest, of the American colonies. 

10. What was her chief industry? 

The cultivation, preparation and export of tobacco. This 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



11 



commodity became so staple that it was recognized, to all 
intents and purposes, as money — purchases being made, and 
debts, salaries and taxes paid with it. Its price, however, va- 
ried, ranging from 2 to 12 cents, according to supply and de- 
mand. (As prices went, this was equal to 10 to 50 cents in our 
day.) 

11. What can you say concerning land tenure and local gov- 
ernment in this colony ? 

Its land tenure resembled that of Great Britain. Large 
landed estates entailed upon the eldest male heir, were common, 
and it was a popular complaint that all the desirable land in 
the colony was in the possession of a few persons. (Lord 
Thomas Fairfax owned 5,282,000 acres lying between the Po- 
tomac and Rappahannock rivers. This estate was confiscated 
after the revolution.) Local magistrates were appointed by 
the governor, but the planters formed an aristocracy that mo- 
nopolized or controlled these appointments, or at the worst ig- 
nored them, each planter claiming supremacy upon his own 
estate. 

12. What of the towns and cities ? 

There were few towns, and none of commercial importance. 
Vessels, moored in the rivers, received their cargoes from the 
flatboats of the individual planters, and delivered the goods 
brought from abroad in the same primitive fashion. 

13. Where was the seat of government ? 

At Williamsburg, between the York and James rivers. This 
town was founded in 1632, and is the oldest incorporated town 
in Virginia. (It was the colonial and state capital until 1779, 
when the transfer to Richmond was made.) 

14. Whence was the name of this colony derived ? 
Virginia was so named by Sir Walter Raleigh in honor of 

the " virgin queen," Elizabeth. 

15. By whom was New England first settled? 

The first permanent settlement was made in December, 1620, 
at Plymouth, by the " Pilgrims," as they styled themselves. 
These were English 4i separatists," i. e., those who had separated 
themselves from the established church of England — who, to 
escape government interference with their peculiar faith and 
practice, emigrated first to Holland and afterward to America. 

16. Was this colony a success ? 

Not altogether. The colonists do not seem to have been re- 
garded with favor, even by the English dissenters, for compar- 



12 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



atively few of the many emigrating at that time, joined them. 
Ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims, the colony con- 
tained but 300 persons, and in 1692, when the Plymouth set- 
tlement was absorbed by that of Massachusetts Bay, it num- 
bered only about 8,000. 

17. When and by whom was the Massachusetts Bay colony 
founded ? 

In 1628 a company of English Puritans purchased from the 
council for New England (successors to the Plymouth company 
to which James I granted North Virginia) a tract of land ex- 
tending from three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimac 
river to three miles south of the Charles river, and from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. A colony was sent out, and a charter 
was granted by King Charles I, vesting the government of the 
new settlement in the company which had purchased the land. 
Two years later, this company (in violation of its charter, the 
king declared) transferred its headquarters to the American 
shores where settlements had been made at Salem and Charles- 
town. 

18. Were these Puritans Separatists like the Plymouth Pil- 
grims? 

No; they claimed to be members of the Church of England 
who could not conscientiously conform to its religious practice. 
They sought in America liberty to establish a reformed church. 

19. Did this colony thrive? 

It throve amazingly almost from the outset. In 1630 some 
1500 settlers arrived, and Boston, Dorchester, Cambridge, Lynn 
and other towns were founded in that year. Massachusetts — 
including, of course, the Plymouth settlement — contained in 
1775 some 360,000 inhabitants. 

20. How was this colony governed? 

Under the government at first established, the colonists were 
allowed to choose their own governor and legislators, but in 
1686 their charter was revoked by King James II, and the 
colony became a possession of the crown, to be governed by 
the king's appointees. After the accession of William and 
Mary, the colonists recovered the right to choose their legisla- 
ture but not their governor. (Boston has always been the 
capital.) 

21. Note the difference in the government set up by the 
colonists at Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay respectively? 

The chief difference appears in the extension of the fran- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



13 



chise. At Plymouth the franchise was on a democratic basis, 
each adult male freeman having a vote. In the other colony, 
church membership was necessary to qualify a man for the 
franchise, so that not one-fourth of the adult males were en- 
titled to vote. To this unwise restriction of the franchise must 
be ascribed the religious intolerance of the Massachusetts 
colonial government. 

22. What was the natural result of such a provision in the 
government? 

It threw the political leadership into the hands of the most 
dogmatic and illiberal church-goers. Every plea for liberality 
toward other beliefs became an offense that, if persisted in, 
speedily led to expulsion and consequent political disfranchise- 
ment. Those unwilling to tyrannize and persecute, kept 
silence out of regard for their own safety. (King Charles II 
forced the colonists to extend the suffrage to dissenters, for 
which they should have been duly grateful.) 

23. What was the most notable feature of the local govern- 
ment of these colonies? 

The town meeting, at which the people decided questions 
and chose local officials by the votes of the electors 
assembled. This was the origin of the system of township 
organization that now generally prevails in the northern 
states. 

24. WTiat territory belonged to colonial Massachusetts ? 
Massachusetts, as a colony, was bounded as at present, but 

she also claimed a strip of western territory under the Bay 
company's original purchase, which extended to the Pacific. 
New York and Canada. traversed this grant, and to these she 
yielded without dispute, but she barred Virginia's north- 
western extension by claiming her strip — between the parallels 
of the Merrimac and the Charles — from Lake Huron to the 
Mississippi; beyond this river the country belonged to France. 

25. What other colony had a similar claim ? 
Connecticut. Her claim extended from the western New 

York and Pennsylvania line to the Mississippi. Connecticut, 
therefore, also opposed Virginia's claims to the northwestern 
territory. 

26. How were these conflicting claims finally settled ? 

By cession to the federal government after the formation of 
the union. 

27. Whence the name of Massachusetts ? 



14 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



It was the name of a tribe of Indians, and is said to mean 
"blue hills." 

28. When, where and by whom was New Hampshire first 
settled ? 

In 1623, at Dover and Portsmouth, by English colonists un- 
der John Mason and Ferdinand Gorges. These two men se- 
cured, from the council for New England, a grant of the terri- 
tory between the Merrimac and Kennebec rivers, and north- 
west to the St. Lawrence. Subsequently a division was made, 
and John Mason called his share New Hampshire, after his 
home in Hampshire, England. 

29. Was the colony prosperous ? 

No; it grew but slowly, and suffered greatly from the depre- 
dations of the Indians. In 1641 it was, at its own request, uni- 
ted with Massachusetts. It was re-established as a separate 
crown colony by King Charles II, but, left to itself after the 
British revolution of 1688,it again joined Massachusetts; from 
which it was again separated by royal decree in 1691. 

30. How was it governed ? 

At first by its proprietors; afterwards, as a royal colony, by 
a governor appointed by the king, and a legislature chosen by 
itself. Locally, it was governed, like Massachusetts, by select- 
men chosen at the town meeting. (The seat of government 
was first at Portsmouth, and afterward at Exeter, but early in 
the present century it was removed to Concord.) 

31. What was its population at the beginning of the Amer- 
ican revolution? 

About 80,000. 

32. How was the country south of the Massachusetts Bay 
colony settled? 

First by pioneers from Massachusetts, seeking to better them- 
selves or escape from the rigorous supervision of the Puritan 
government. Settlements were thus made in Connecticut, 
Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford being founded in 1634,1635, 
and 1636 respectively. The territory had before this (in 1630- 
31) been granted to the earl of Warwick and by him trans- 
ferred to Lord Say and Lord Brooke and others that had joined* 
them, who, two years later, founded the small colony at Say- 
brook near the mouth of the Connecticut river. In 1644 the 
Saybrook colony united with the more populous settlements of 
the interior, and this colony, under the general name of Con- 
necticut, afterward succeeded by purchase to the territorial 
rights originally granted to Warwick. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



15 



33. What other colony was founded in Connecticut ? 

In 1638 the colony of New Haven was founded by a band of 
English Puritans, who sought to establish a settlement similar 
to that of Massachusetts Bay. Only church members were al- 
lowed to vote, and the Bible, that is, the Mosaic law, was de- 
clared the fundamental law of the colony. This colony, which 
had no charter, maintained its individuality only till 1665, when 
it was merged in the colony of Connecticut. 

34. Had the other colony a charter? 

Not until 1665, when a very favorable one was obtained from 
Charles II. Twenty-eight years before that, the settlements 
about Hartford formed a general court, and proceeded to gov- 
ern themselves, ignoring both the Massachusetts government 
from which they had fled, and the proprietary government at 
Saybrook; but this was not recognized in England. It was 
this Hartford government that purchased the rights of the 
proprietors, and, through the influence of Lord Say, a charter 
was finally secured. 

35. Was the union between the Hartford and New Haven 
colonies permanent? 

Yes. But little remained to remind the colonists of the 
double origin. The two capitals, at which the legislature met 
in alternate sessions, were maintained until 1874. 

36. How was this colony governed? 

Under its charter it had the most absolute rights of self- 
government. The charter was suspended for a time by James 
II, but restored after the revolution of 1688. Its town govern- 
ment was modeled on that of Massachusetts, but was much 
more liberal in its administration. 

37. With whom did the settlers contend for the possession 
of their lands ? 

Both with the Pequot Indians, with whom they waged long 
and bitter wars, and with the Dutch of New Amsterdam, whom 
they drove easily from the Connecticut valley. 

38. Was the colony a thriving one ? 

Decidedly so. Its population in 1775 had risen to 200,000. 

39. Whence the name of this colony ? 

From its principal river, which was called Connecticut, that 
fs, in the Indian tongue, ' long river." 

40. What led to the settlement of Rhode Island ? 

Rhode Island, like Connecticut, was first settled by fugitives 
from Massachusetts Bay. Among the first settlers was Roger 



16 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Williams, who, being banished from the Massachusetts Bay 
colony for denying the right of the state to meddle with any 
man's religion, secured a tract of land from the Indians, and 
founded Providence Plantation in 1636. Other settlers came 
in, and took possession of the large island in the bay, which 
had been named Roodt Eyland — "red island"— by the Dutch 
sailors who discovered it. 

41. How were these settlements governed? 

They chose their own rulers and made their own laws, first 
under a constitution formed by themselves, and after 1643 un- 
der a charter procured from the British parliament. This 
charter was confirmed in 1654, and again by King Charles in 
1663. 

42. What was the full name of this colony ? 

The colony of the Rhode Island and Providence plantations. 
This is still the official name of the State of Rhode Island, 
and as a reminder of the fact, the State has two capitals. 

43. Was the colony prosperous ? 

The colony prospered. Its government promised the largest 
degree of religious liberty, and this attracted many emigrants. 
The encroachments of Connecticut on the east and Massachu- 
setts on the north threatened for a time to absorb the colony, but 
they were successfully combated. The charter of the colony 
was suspended by King James, but was restored by William 
and Mary. The population in 1775 was about 50,000. 

44. Whence the name, New England, applied to these north- 
eastern colonies ? 

That name was given to the country by Capt. John Smith, of 
Virginia, who first explored these coasts. 

45. What was the New England Union ? 

In 1643, the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, 
Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, formed a confederacy 
for mutual defense. They refused to admit Rhode Island, whose 
territory they claimed as their own. This union lasted until 
1660, when it was given up. 

46. What was the nature of the union ? 

A confederacy against the Indians and the Dutch (and Rhode 
Island), which did not affect the autonomy of the several 
colonies, While the union lasted, each of the confederate col- # 
onies sent two commissioners, who discussed questions of 
peace or war, and the matters relating to the general interest* 

47. What were the chief industries in the colonies? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



17 



At first, agriculture, hunting and fishing, to which were after- 
ward added various manufactures, ship-building and commerce. 
There was no great staple, like tobacco in Virginia, and the 
colonists did each what seemed the most profitable. The navi- 
gation acts, which were designed for the protection of British 
manufacturers — to prevent the growth of colonial trade with 
foreign nations, bore hardly on the people of New England, 
who were consequently firm believers in free trade. The navi- 
gation acts — the first of which was passed in 1651 — were ac- 
cordingly evaded by common consent, as were also the acts of 
1690 prohibiting the manufacture of woolen and iron goods, 
as well as paper, hats, and leather in the colonies. 

48. When and by whom was the city and colony of New 
York founded ? 

In 1623, by the Dutch, who claimed the country from the 
Connecticut to the Delaware; basing their claim on the discov- 
ery of the Hudson river by Henry Hudson in 1609, and on the 
subsequent visits of Dutch merchants to traffic with the Indians. 

49. Give the history of the Dutch occupation. 

Holland granted the country to the Dutch West India com- 
pany, and under its direction a settlement was made on Man- 
hattan Island, called New Amsterdam; and villages and trading 
posts were established at many other points in the "New Neth- 
erlands" — as the Dutch possessions in North America were 
called. For forty years the colony owed allegiance to Holland, 
but in 1664 the English took possession of it. Its name was 
then changed to New York in honor of the Duke of York, — 
afterward King James II — to whom his royal brother, King 
Charles II, granted the conquered territory. 

50. What was the experience of the colony under its Dutch 
governors ? 

Quiet and uneventful. The colonists had little or no trouble 
with the Indians, with whom they drove a thriving trade for 
furs, etc. They resisted for a time the encroachments of the 
New Englanders in the Connecticut Valley, and those of the 
Swedes on the Delaware river, but soon gave way to the former 
and conquered the latter, thus securing peace for the colony 
until its conquest by England in 1664. 

51. How did the mode of settlement compare with that in 
New England and Virginia? 

The Dutch company promoted settlement by granting large 
tracts of land to "patroons," who brought over a specified num- 
ber of settlers for their estates, the emigrants renting instead of 



18 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



owning (as in New England) the land they tilled. In Virginia 
similar plantations were tilled by negro slaves. The New York 
patroon owned slaves, and often held his own countrymen in 
temporary bondage, but he seems to have found it more profit- 
able to rent than to till his land even with cheap labor. 

52. What was the chief agricultural product ? 

Tobacco, that being a staple export in New York as it was in 
Virginia. So much attention was given to the tobacco crop 
that the colony was one year threatened with famine, and the 
authorities ordered that thereafter a hill of corn should be 
planted for every hill of tobacco. 

53. How did Holland regard the seizure of her American pos- 
sessions? 

With great indignation. When at war with England in 1673, 
she sent a fleet and reconquered them; but she gave them up 
again in making peace with England the following year. 

54. Compare the government of the colony under Dutch and 
under English rule. 

Under Dutch rule the legislative and executive power was in 
the company and in the governor as its deputy. The people 
were virtually excluded from the government, though the gov- 
ernor was supposed to consult with, and be advised by, a coun- 
cil representing the colonists. The people — or rather certain 
favored communities — chose double the desired number of 
representatives, and from these the governor selected his coun- 
cil. This council he habitually bullied and affronted, so that 
the people gained little by their so-called representative voice 
in the administration of affairs. As a royal colony under 
English rule, New York elected her assembly and made her own 
laws, subject to the approval of the crown. She suffered much, 
however, from the incapable and tyrannical rule of the govern- 
ors appointed by the king. Between these and the people there 
was continual strife. 

55. What was "Leisler's rebellion?" 

In 1689 the people of New York deposed and banished an 
unpopular governor, and put one of the citizens, Jacob Leisler, 
in his place. The new governor sent out by the king arrested 
Leisler, and tried, convicted, and executed him as a traitor, to 
the great indignation of the colonists. 

56. Was the colony prosperous under British rule ? 

Yes. It increased in numbers, and also in wealth through 
trade with the Indians, and commerce with the other colonies 
and with Europe, New York suffered less than New England 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



19 



from Indian wars, but she suffered more from pirates; and one 
of the ship masters sent out by the colonial government to 
chastise the buccaneers, broke faith and turned pirate himself. 
This was the notorious Capt. Kidd. 

57. How did the colony compare with others? 

New York was one of the smaller colonies, the settlements 
being generally confined to the valleys of the Hudson and its 
tributaries. The chief cities were New York, Albany and 
Kingston. The population of the colony in 1775 was about 
180,000. 

58. What was the form of local government in the colony ? 
Under the Dutch, the patroons were supreme on their own 

estates, and the governor's representatives ruled elsewhere. 
In New Amsterdam a municipal government was organized in 
1650 to consist of " one schout, two burgomasters, and five 
schepens, to be elected by the citizens in the manner usual in 
the city of Amsterdam (Holland)." The schout answered very 
closely to the English sheriff, the burgomaster to the mayor 
(the two holding office alternately, a day at a time), and the 
schepen to the justice of the peace. These three classes of 
officers, holding their places one year, composed the city council. 
In the election referred to, those who were, or had been, mem- 
bers of the council, met and selected a duplicate "ticket" (as 
we should say) and from this list of candidates the governor 
made the appointments. Even under this system, the gov- 
ernor found the councilors too independent, and limited their 
powers, refusing to recognize their right to nominate their suc- 
cessors. Not till after the revolution did New York establish 
anything like the town government principle that prevailed in 
New England. 

59. What other colonies were formed from the Dutch pos- 
sessions ? 

New Jersey and Delaware. 

60. When was New Jersey colonized ? 

After the seizure of the New Netherlands by the English, the 
Duke of York conveyed the southern portion of his grant to 
Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. In 1676 it was 
divided, East Jersey belonging to Carteret, and West Jersey to 
a company of Quakers who brought out Berkeley's interest. In 
1702, all the proprietors ceded their rights to the queen, and 
New Jersey became a royal colony. She had her own assembly, 
but was under the governor of New York until 1738. 

61. What settlements were made ? 



20 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The first settlement was made at Elizabethtown, in 1664, by 
Puritans from Long Island. Newark was settled in 1666. 
This was one of*the capitals; the other was Perth Amboy, a 
thriving settlement that was once thought destined to become 
a greater city than New York. 

62. Whence the name of this colony ? 

New Jersey was so named as a compliment to Sir George 
Carteret, who had been governor of the Island of Jersey, 

63. How was the colony governed? 

At first by an assembly elected by the people, and a governor 
appointed by the proprietors. As a royal colony, the governors 
were appointed by the crown, and these, we are told, often 
tried to over-rule the assembly contrary to the rights of the 
people, derived from the "concessions" of the original proprie- 
tors. For all that, the colony was one of the freest from 
tyranny, both of church and state. 

64. What was the population of this colony in 1775? 
About 130,000. 

65. When and by whom was Delaware first settled ? 

In 1638, by a company of Swedes and Finns, led by Peter 
Minuit, a former governor of New Amsterdam. The settlement 
was made at Christina, so named in honor of the queen of 
Sweden. 

66. Give the history of this colony. 

It was quite a strong settlement when, in 1655, it was con- 
quered by Dutch from New Amsterdam, who claimed the terri- 
tory. It was then sold (first in part, and afterward as a whole) 
by the West India company to the city of Amsterdam, Holland, 
and under its new owner the Dutch colony of Newer Amstel — 
afterward called Newcastle — was founded. The colony passed 
with the New Netherlands into the possession of the Duke of 
York, who sold it, in 1682, to William Penn. 

67. How was it goverued? 

Under the Swedes and Dutch by governors appointed by its 
proprietors; under Penn and his heirs, by the governor of 
Pennsylvania, assisted, after 1703, by an assembly elected by 
the colonists. It was virtually a province of Pennsylvania till 
the revolution. 

68. Whence the name of this state ? 

From the river and bay which front it; these were named in 
honor of Lord Delaware, who died off this coast in 1610. As a 
colony, Delaware was called New Sweden by the Swedes, the 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



21 



South River Colony ,and Newer Amstel — from New Amstel, Hol- 
land—by the Dutch, and the "territories" or "the three lower 
counties on the Delaware," by the Quakers of Pennsylvania. 
Organized as a separate commonwealth, it was called the 
Delaware state, and afterward, as now, the state of Delaware. 

69. What was the population at the time of the revolution ? 
About 40,000. 

70. When and by whom was Pennsylvania founded? 

The first settlements in Pennsylvania territory were made by 
the Swedes and Dutch of the Delaware colony. The colony 
of Pennsylvania was founded in 1681, by William Penn. A 
Quaker settlement had before this been made in W T est Jersey, 
but Penn projected a colony on a larger scale. He obtained a 
grant of land from King Charles II, as a reward for the ser- 
vices of his father, the Admiral Penn, and he strengthened his 
title by purchasing the land of the Indians, 

71. How was the colony governed? 

By a deputy appointed by the proprietor, and a legislature 
chosen by the colonists. Penn promised complete civil and 
religious liberty to all comers, and framed his government 
accordingly. The majority of the first settlers were English 
Quakers, but there were always a large number of other nation- 
alities and religious persuasions. 

72. How long did Penn's proprietorship continue ? 

It was suspended for a time in 1692 — Penn being suspected 
of favoring the deposed king, James II — but was soon restored, 
and after Penn's death in 1718 descended to his sons. The 
proprietor's right to nominate the governor of the colony, and 
through him to interfere with its government, became very- 
irksome to the colonists, and the tenants on the proprietary 
estates objected to the rents they were asked to pay. Both 
these were abolished by the colony at the revolution, and Penn's 
heirs were afterward compensated by a state grant of $650,000. 

73. By whom was Pennsylvania named? 

The name — signifying Penn's Woodlands — was proposed by 
King Charles II. The proprietor modestly demurred, but 
yielded, of course, to his majesty's wish. 

74. Was the colony prosperous ? 

Yes; it throve and grew slowly but steadily. Its principal 
industry was farming ; the extent of its mineral wealth being 
unknown. Philadelphia — the "city of brotherly love," founded 
by Penn — was the only town of importance, and was larger 



22 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



than New York until after the revolution. The population of 
the colony in 1775 was about 300,000. 

75. What form of local government prevailed? 

In Pennsylvania — as in other proprietary colonies — the land 
was divided into counties whose affairs were administered by a 
court of sessions, appointed by the governor, the chief magis- 
trate of the colony. The county, and not the parish or town 
(as in New England) thus became the important political 
division. 

76. Under what circumstances was the colony of Maryland 
founded ? 

The Roman Catholics were oppressed by the laws of Eng- 
land, and the colony of Maryland was projected by one of 
their number, Lord Baltimore, to offer them a refuge. A grant 
of land was obtained from King Charles I, and Lord Baltimore 
dying about that time, his plans were carried out by his son, 
Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. Under his direction 
a settlement was made in 1634 at St. Marys, near the mouth of 
the Potomac river. 

77. Who were the first settlers? 

Like the colonists at Plymouth, they called themselves "Pil- 
grims." They were for the most part Roman Catholics, includ- 
ing many English gentlemen of that faith. A welcome was, 
however, extended to the Christians of whatever denomination, 
and the colony soon contained more Protestants than 
Romanists. 

78. What sort of government was established? 

A very liberal one, especially with regard to the profession 
of religion. A charter was granted the colony, by its proprie- 
tor, giving all freemen a voice in making the laws, and the 
assembly chosen under this charter passed, in 1649, the "toler- 
ation act," declaring that "no person professing to believe in 
Jesus Christ," should be "in any way troubled or molested," in 
the exercise of his religion. 

79. Was a like toleration extended to Jews, Turks, and 
infidels ? 

No; the assembly decreed that any one speaking against (or 
denying) the Holy Trinity, should, for the first offense, be 
bored through the tongue and fined or imprisoned; that for 
the second offense he should be branded (with the letter B) as a 
blasphemer; and for the third offense he should die. 

80. Was the Toleration Act maintained? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



23 



Only so long as the colony was under Roman Catholic gov- 
ernment. During the parliamentary interregnum and Crom- 
well's protectorate, the zealous Puritans who had seized the 
government of Virginia, came over and with the help of the 
Maryland Protestants took possession of that colony also. At 
this time the Toleration Act was amended to exclude from its 
benefits papists and prelatists, and also (by implication) 
Quakers and Anabaptists. Not until 1657-58 did Lord Balti- 
more regain control of the government and restore general 
religious toleration. Again, after the revolution of 1688, the 
proprietary government of Maryland was suspended and the 
Virginian emigrants allowed to get control and establish the 
Episcopal church. Toleration was extended to Protestant dis- 
senters, but not to Romanists. 

81. How long did this Episcopal supremacy continue? 
Until the American revolution, for though the proprietary 

government was restored in 1715, it was only done after the 
fifth Lord Baltimore gave up his church and became a Pro- 
testant. 

82. What occasioned the boundary dispute between Maryland, 
and Pennsylvania, and how did it end? 

Lord Baltimore's grant extended to the 40th parallel, and 
Penn's grant was understood to be north of that line. Penn 
desired to reach the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay, and 
was disappointed to find his territory so far removed from it. 
On his purchase from the Duke of York he based a claim to 
the upper part of the Delaware peninsula, and he persistently 
refused to have the boundary lines fixed. Baltimore had a 
prior claim to Delaware but the English privy council in 1685 
decided the matter by cutting the disputed territory through 
the center from north to south. The northern boundary line 
was finally settled according to an agreement between the 
Maryland proprietor and the Penn heirs in 1732. Some two 
and a half million acres of Maryland land were thus donated to 
Pennsylvania. 

83. When was the line fixed ? 

In 1760, for some 240 miles at least, by Charles Mason and 
Jeremiah Dixon, two English surveyors, employed for the pur- 
pose. "Mason and Dixon's Line," as it was afterwards called, 
was marked with mile stones, every fifth stone having the arms 
of the Baltimore family on one side and the arms of the Penn 
family on the other. 

84. Was the colony of Maryland prosperous? 



24 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Yes; except for internal dissensions. The population in- 
creased rapidly, there were no Indian wars to speak of, crops 
were good and food plentiful. Tobacco was the chief staple, 
and, as in Virginia, it was held legal tender for taxes and debts, 
commerce increased, but towns were few and far between. St. 
Mary's was the capital till 1693, when the governor called the 
assembly to Annapolis. Neither town attained any great size 
and Baltimore soon outgrew them. The population in 1775 
was about 220,000. 

85. What was the form of local government ? 

That of the county, based on the county court. There was 
no town organization. 

86. Whence the name of this colony ? 

The name was given by King Charles I, in honor of his queen, 
Henrietta Maria. Lord Baltimore meant to call it Crescentia, 
the "growing" colony. 

87. To whom was North Carolina granted? 

North Carolina was included in the grant of South Virginia 
to the London Company, but, disregarding this fact, King 
Charles II, in 1663, granted the country lying between latitude 
29° and 36:30 and extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
to eight of his personal friends. 

88. When and by whom was the country settled? 

The first permanent settlements were made by pioneers from 
Virginia at some time previous to the king's grant, and, in 
1661, New England Puritans had established a colony. To 
these were added, in 1665, a company of English emigrants 
from the Barbadoes Islands. The new proprietors grouped 
the scattered settlements in one colony, which they called Al- 
bemarle, as a compliment to the Duke of Albemarle, one of 
their number. 

89. What form of government was established ? 

The proprietors set up an elaborate scheme of government, 
modeled on feudal institutions, and said to have been designed 
by the celebrated philosopher, John Locke. This " Grand 
Model," as it was called, proved! offensive to the colonists, and, 
owing to their persistent opposition, the proprietors first mod- 
ified and finally abandoned it. 

90. What were the main features of the Grand Model? 

The country was laid off in counties of 480,000 acres each. 
Of this land one-fifth Was reserved to the proprietors, one-fifth 
assigned to the nobility, to created by the proprietors, and, 
the remaining three-fifths wer£ to be sold, leased, or granted to 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



25 



settlers, according to the will of the proprietors. The colony 
was to be ruled by a governor and a parliament of two houses, 
the lower elected by land owners and the upper containing 
seven deputies of the proprietors, seven of the oldest noblemen 
of the higher ranks, and seven members chosen by the lower 
house. 

91. Who constituted the nobility ? 

The three orders of nobility proposed were landgraves, 
caziquesand barons. One landgrave with 48,000 acres of land; 
one cazique with 24,000 acres, and two barons with 12,000 acres 
each, were to be assigned to each county. These nobles were 
magistrates in their respective counties. 

92. What part did the proprietors take in the government ? 
Besides appointing the governor and their deputies in the 

parliament, the eight proprietors sat as a third house in Eng- 
land, with power to approve or reject the colonial laws, or even, 
if they saw fit, to repeal them. 

93. Was this scheme of government ever carried out? 

No; 'the governors made a valiant effort to carry out the in- 
structions of the proprietors, but popular opposition defeated 
it. After 1693 the proprietors yielded and greatly simplified 
their plan of government. 

94. Did the proprietorship continue? 

No; in 1729 the proprietors were induced to give up their 
rights to the king, and the Carolinas became crown colonies, 
and so continued until the revolution. Lord Carteret, one of 
the proprietors, refused to convey his title and was assigned 
the northeastern part of the colony, where he continued his 
land offices and received his quit rents — 75 cents per 100 acres — 
until the revolution. 

95. When were the Carolinas divided?. 

They were from the first considered separate counties and 
allowed separate governors and assemblies. After the cession 
to the king, in 1729, they were recognized as distinct colonies. 

96. Whence the name of these colonies ? 

Jean Ribaut, who essayed to plant a French colony at Port 
Royal in 1562, called the country Carolina in honor of his king, 
Charles IX, of France. The English retained the name as a 
compliment to their king, Charles II, of England. 

97. Was North Carolina prosperous as a colony ? 
Decidedly so. Though the population at first grew but 

slowly, emigration in later years soon overcame any deficiency. 



26 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



In 1711 a colony of Swiss founded Newbern, and after the fail- 
ure of the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, in 1740, the disaf- 
fected Scotch emigrated by thousands, and many came to 
North Carolina. Fayetteville was founded by these Scotch 
refugees, in 1746. Altogether the colony, in 1775, numbered 
about 260,000, taking the fourth rank among the colonies in 
point of population. 

98. What were the chief causes of tribulation to the colonists? 
The war with the Tuscarora Indians, in 1711; the scattered 

population, the lack of good roads, and the consequent ab- 
sence of anything like internal commerce, and the notable 
deficiency in schools. But worse than all these combined was 
the vexation endured from the government. The governors 
appointed by the proprietors and by the king were, with few 
exceptions, corrupt or tyrannical, and they were, moreover, en- 
gaged to enforce very unpopular measures. 

99. What were these measures ? 

The attempt to impose on the people the "Grand Model" 
system of government was considered tyrannical and resist- 
ed with determination. A similar attempt to establish the 
Episcopal Church and discriminate against dissenters was like- 
wise foiled. The enforcement of the British navigation acts 
provoked continual strife between governor and people, as did 
also the attempt of the governors to collect taxes and rents in 
sterling money, of which there was but little in the colony. 
The people in some places organized themselves in bands, self- 
styled Regulators, to resist the officers of the law and especially 
the tax-collectors. With these Regulators Gov. Try on, in 1771, 
fought a pitched battle and defeated them. The severity with 
which the conquered rebels were treated made the governor 
very unpopular, as they undoubtedly had wrongs to com- 
plain of. 

100. W T hat was the form of government in 1730-75 ? 

The governor, who held his office at the pleasure of the crown, 
was the chief executive officer, and all judges, sheriffs and 
justices of the peace were appointed by him and were remov- 
able at his pleasure. He also nominated and procured the 
appointment of the members of his majesty's council for 
North Carolina, which constituted the upper house of the as- 
sembly. He had, moreover, an absolute veto on any act that 
might be passed by both houses. The members of the lower 
house were v elected by free-holders who were in possession of 
fifty acres of land, Thry were chosen by counties; Albemarle 
county sending five, Bertie county three, and other counties 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



27 



two each; and there were also borough members representing 
the incorporated towns. The members of the lower house re- 
tained their seats till the governor saw fit to dissolve the assem- 
bly (which he could do at any time) and order a new election. 

101. What of the local government? 

The county (and not the township) has, in North Carolina, 
always been the unit of local government, and its officials 
have always been appointed by the governor. 

102. Where was the seat of government? 

It was nomadic. Edenton, Newbern and Wilmington were 
the favored towns, but the governors changed its location at 
their pleasure, and one — Gov. Dobbs, in 1758 — fixed it at his 
farm, Tower Hill, now Snow Hill, in Greene county. 

103. What were the chief industries of the colony? 
Agriculture and the manufacture of tar and turpentine. 

104. When and where was the first English settlement made 
in South Carolina? 

In 1670-71, at Old Charleston, opposite the present site of 
the city of that name, to which the colonists removed in 1680. 

105. What people came to South Carolina? 

Many Huguenots from France, Dutch from New York and 
from Holland, and other foreigners, but the main body of the 
colonists were from Great Britain, or from the other colonies. 

106. Were foreigners welcomed? 

They were well received by the government but not by the 
English and Anglo-Americans. These were especially hostile 
to the French, whom they at first arbitrarily disfranchised. 
Yet all these Protestants united some thirty years later to op- 
press the Catholic Irish, who then began to emigrate to the 
colonies in large numbers. 

107. What was the chief product of this colony ? 

Rice, an East Indian grain, introduced in South Carolina in 
1694. 

108. Had the colonists many enemies to contend with? 

Yes, they were often at war with the Indian tribes on the 
western borders, and the Spanish in Florida were a continual 
menace, inciting the Indians to war and the negro slaves to 
revolt. Not till England took possession of Florida, in 1763, 
did the Carolinians enjoy a settled peace. 

109. How was this colony governed ? 

Like North Carolina. She escaped from the rule of the pro- 



28 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



prietors somewhat earlier, however, as in 1719 the people over- 
turned the government and demanded recognition as a crown 
colony. 

110. What was the population of this colony in 1775? 
About 180,000. 

111. What was the capital of the colony? 

Charleston ; the only town of importance during the colonial 
period. 

112. Where, when and by whom were settlements first made 
in Georgia? 

At Savannah, in 1733, by a colony of 114 English under Gen. 
James Oglethorpe. 

113. What was the peculiar feature of this settlement? 

The fact that its founding was an act of benevolence. Ogle- 
thorpe designed the colony as a refuge for insolvent debtors 
who were to be released from prison and assisted to emigrate. 
The land from the Savannah to the Altamaha had been granted 
by King George II to Oglethorpe and others in trust for the 
poor, and the colony could in no wav become a source of profit 
to the trustees. 

114. W T as the colony designed exclusively for poor men? 

No; all classes were welcomed, and grants of land tendered 
to those who would emigrate at their own expense, and bring 
servants to till their estates. Moreover, the trustees were soon 
dissatisfied with their poor debtors, and, conceiving that those 
who had been useless and improvident in England would con- 
tinue so in the colony, diverted a part of their bounty to assist- 
ing German and Swiss protestants (and Scotch Highlanders as 
well) to emigrate to Georgia. 

115. What especial service was expected of the Germans and 
Swiss ? 

Instruction of the colonists in the art of breeding silk worms 
and spinning silk. The trustees had great faith in this indus- 
try, and favored it by all possible means. Not only were 
grants made and bounties offered to promote excellence in the 
art, but it was made a qualification for members of the assem- 
bly that each should own one hundred mulberry trees, properly 
fenced, and have at least one female of his household — child, 
wife, or slave — instructed in reeling and spinning silk. 

116. Did the industry flourish? 

No; it took no permanent hold. Some enthusiasm was 



UNITED STATES HISTOKY. 



29 



roused in its favor, but the colonists generally found it dis- 
tasteful or unprofitable and abandoned it. 

117. What form of government was established? 

At first, local government only, the town officers being an- 
swerable directly to the trustees. This plan did not work well 
after the departure of Oglethorpe — who had virtually acted as 
governor, though without bearing the title — and the trustees 
appointed a president and four assistants to form the colonial 
government. To these was added an annual representative 
assembly, with power to debate and propose laws which the 
trustees should, at their own pleasure, decree. 

118. Did this government continue? 

Only during the twenty -one years for which the board of 
trustees was incorporated. After that the trusteeship was dis- 
continued, at the colony's request, and Georgia was governed 
like the Carolinas, as a crown colony. 

119. Why did the colonists wish to change their government? 
The colony was weak, numbering only about 5,000, and it 

was thought that the regulations of the trustees — especially 
those prohibiting rum, brandy, and negro slaves — discouraged 
emigration to Georgia. Other vexations were complained of, 
but these were the chief burdens. 

120. Did the colony have any trouble with the Indians ? 
Very little ; owing to Oglethorpe's wisdom and justice in 

dealing with the tribes in the vicinity of the settlements. 

121. What trouble did they have with Florida? 

Florida was, until 1763, in the possession of Spain, and the 
Spaniards resented the English settlement of South Carolina 
and Georgia as an encroachment on their territory. Even 
when Spain and England were at peace there was strife be- 
tween their colonies, and when, in 1739, England declared war 
against Spain, Oglethorpe invaded Florida with the colonial 
troops and captured two towns. He laid siege to St. Augus- 
tine, but sickness compelled him to retire. In 1742, the 
Spaniards retaliated by invading Georgia, but were met and 
routed by Oglethorpe near the mouth of the Altamaha river. 

122. What was the condition of the colony in 1775? 

It was one of the weaker colonies, having only about 30^000 
inhabitants. Savannah, Darien and Augusta were the prin- 
cipal towns, the first named being the seat of government. 

123. What became of Oglethorpe, the founder of this colony ? 
He returned to England in 1743, and remained there until 



30 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



his death, in 1785, at the age of 97. He saw the independence 
of the colonies acknowledged by Great Britain, and was con- 
gratulated on the fact by John Adams, our first minister to 
England. 

124. What was the condition of the colonies in 1775? 

An aggregate population of about 2,600,000 was distributed 
throughout the territory from Maine to Florida, and from the 
Appalachian mountain chain to the sea. The colonies had be- 
come acquainted with each other and were accustomed to call 
on each other for sympathy and aid in cases of emergency. 
Together they resisted the Indians and together they had as- 
sisted Great Britain in conquering, 1756-60, New France, i. e. 
Canada and the Ohio valley. Left to themselves, the colonies 
would naturally have drifted apart, through jealousy and the 
instinct of the would-be patriot to hate all countries but his 
own, but, being forced to unite to resist a common enemy, they 
became disposed to favor a permanent union. 

125. Were the colonists well-to-do? 

Comparatively few of the colonists could be called wealthy, 
though many of them owned large estates, which, under im- 
proved methods in agriculture, had become profitable. Despite 
restrictive legislation by the British parliament, commerce 
with foreign nations had become very profitable to some of 
colonists, to say nothing of the lawful traffic with Great Britain, 
which had grown prodigiously. The country had, however, 
but little sterling money and was especially averse to any 
claim that could not be settled in the local currency of the 
colonies. 

126. What was the condition of the colonies with regard to 
education ? 

Little provision was made for common schools, except in 
New England, where they were supported by the towns, but 
though the wealthy in other colonies might be indifferent to 
the education of the poor, they prized it for their own children, 
and private schools were well supported. There were nine 
colleges in the colonies, but it was still customary for the rich 
in the southern colonies to send their sons to England to com- 
plete their education. 

127. What of the means of travelling between the colonies? 
Conveyance could be had most easily by water. There were 

few made roads, very few ferries or bridges. Travelers with- 
out luggage could, of course, get about easily on horseback, 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



31 



but merchants and emigrants found conveyance overland a 
much more difficult matter. 

128. How about the newspapers and the mails ? 

There were but 37 newspapers printed and mails were infre- 
quent and irregular. A monthly mail was considered sufficient 
even between the largest towns. 



CHAPTER II — THE REVOLUTION. 



129. Why did the colonies revolt? 

Because they were not allowed certain rights of self-govern- 
ment to which they thought themselves entitled. 

130. Where do we find their claims and complaints in this 
regard most accurately set forth ? 

In the declaration of rights made by the first continental 
congress at Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 1774. 

131. Why not in the declaration of independence ? 

The declaration of rights was a bona-fide appeal to the people 
of England. The arraignment of the king in the declaration 
of independence is addressed to the world at large. Hence, 
though the facts stated in the latter document may be true, we 
may assume that the former declaration contains all essential 
demands of the colonists and all for which they would be will- 
ing to fight. 

132. What principle was at the basis of the colonists' claims ? 
That as Englishmen by birth or descent they were entitled 

to the same degree of liberty that their kindred, actually resi- 
dent in Great Britain, enjoyed. 

133. Wherein were their liberties abridged ? 

It had come to be the recognized right of the British com- 
mon people to participate in their legislative council, and to 
originate, through their representatives in the house of com- 
mons, all bills for levying taxes or expending money. The 
colonies, as a section of the British people not represented in 
parliament, were deprived of this right when taxed by the 
imperial parliament. 

134. Did the colonists ask to be represented in the imperial 
parliament ? 



32 



THE LAND LIVE IN. 



They did not ask it ; and it may be concluded that they did 
not wish to be so represented. What they did ask was that 
their colonial legislatures, including, probably, some body rep- 
resenting the united colonies, might have the exclusive right to 
levy taxes in America. 

135. Were the colonists disposed to deny altogether the right 
of the British parliament to legislate for them ? 

Not at first. They admitted the supremacy of the parlia- 
ment in matters concerning the whole empire. They con- 
sented to parliamentary legislation for themselves, done in 
good faith, for the benefit of the empire, excluding, of course, 
any attempt at taxation. 

136. Why did the English not concede the colonists' claims ? 

Mainly through distrust of their loyalty. The parliament 
maintained its right to tax America, not merely because the 
colonies were indebted to England for protection, but as a mark 
of colonial subordination. How easily financial independence 
would lead to virtual independence, the parliament had learned 
in its struggle with the crown in the seventeenth century. 

137. Was this difference of opinion the sole cause of the war? 
No; but the causes of the war may be said to have grown out 

of this difference of opinion. Nations go to war rather to 
punish their enemies than to defend their principles, but an 
honest difference of opinion provokes war by both prompting 
the preliminary dispute, and preventing the concessions that 
all wise men are willing to make to avert strife. 

138. W 7 hen did the dispute over the respective rights of 
parliament and the colonies begin ? 

The justice of the " acts of trade " had been always denied 
by the colonists affected by them, but it was the attempt, in 
1764-5, to tax America, that provoked a general denial of the 
power of parliament in that regard. 

•139. What were the acts of trade? 

The navigation acts 5 designed to restrict the commerce of 
the colonies for the benefit of English merchants; the tariff 
acts, levying customs duties on sugar, molasses and rum im- 
ported from the West Indies, and the acts restricting manu- 
factures in the colonies. These acts were burdensome to the 
northern colonies, but the agricultural settlements cared little 
for the restriction. Moreover, these acts were persistently 
violated with the connivance of the colonial authorities. 

140. Did England make no effort to enforce these acts? 



UNITED STATES HISTOEY. 



33 



She made many such efforts, which the colonists resented as 
an encroachment on their liberties. The governors made them- 
selves very unpopular by trying to enforce the law, and colonial 
judges found themselves likewise unable to please both the 
king and the colonists. It was one of the complaints of the 
declaration of rights that the judges, as well as the governors, 
were paid by the imperial government and not as formerly by 
the colonists ; yet this change was made at the request of the 
judges, to free them from financial dependence on the law- 
breaking communities with whom they had to deal. 

141. What were writs of assistance? 

They were writs that the colonial courts were authorized to 
issue to empower any king's officer to search for and seize any 
goods thought to have been smuggled. They were undoubtedly 
made the instruments of tyranny, besides being in themselves 
a violation of the principle that " a man's house is his castle," 
which it were an act of war to invade. In Massachusetts Bay 
these writs were denounced as unconstitutional, but the col- 
onists generally accepted them as merely unjust. 

142. What was the stamp act? 

The first of the taxation measures which provoked a denial 
of the authority of the parliament. It was proposed in 1764, 
and passed in the following year in spite of the remonstrances 
of the colonists. Briefly, it levied a stamp tax on all legal 
documents and on periodicals, pamphlets, etc. The revenue 
stamps ranged in value from % penny to £6. 

143. How did the Americans meet this attempt to tax them? 

Collectively they had protested through their colonial assem- 
blies, and through a congress of delegates representing nine 
colonies, that met at New York, Oct. 7, 1764. Finding these 
protests unavailing, many of the colonists determined to re- 
sort to mob violence. Organized under the name of Sons of 
Liberty, they seized, destroyed, or concealed all the stamps 
they could lay their hands on, and by threats prevented the 
king's officers from offering any stamps for sale. They even, 
in their town meetings, voted to fine any one who should use 
any of the obnoxious stamps. A general agreement to neither 
use nor import English goods was advocated, and this was so 
far carried into effect that British manufacturers petitioned 
parliament to repeal the stamp act. 

144. Was the act repealed ? 

Yes; the act was repealed in 1766, but with the proviso that 
parliament still claimed the right to impose taxes. 



34 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



145. When was the next attempt to exercise this right? 

In 1767 the parliament imposed customs duties on tea, glass 
and paint imported into the colonies. 

146. How did this differ from the previous act imposing a 
stamp tax? 

The Americans had already submitted to import duties, and 
many of them had admitted the right of parliament to levy 
such taxes. The tax was not a compulsory one, and had the 
Americans been law-abiding would have made no trouble, as 
those who did not wish to pay the tax were not obliged to buy 
the tea. 

147. "Wherein did the calculations of the British ministry 
fail? 

The opponents of taxation were not only unwilling to pay 
the tax, but they were determined that the tax should not be 
paid. Having defeated the stamp tax they sought, in like man- 
ner, to defeat this later imposition. The rebellious Sons of 
Liberty everywhere interfered to prevent the landing of the 
taxed commodities, or their exposure for sale where landing 
had been effected. As a result, though the tax was continued 
for three years, it produced little revenue. Parliament then 
amended the act to remove the duties on paint and glass and 
lower that on tea, and mercantile arrangements were made to 
lower the cost of the tea so that the tax might not be felt. 

148. Were the colonists conciliated by this? 

The colonists had by this time become so hostile to British 
rule that they would accept no concessions. The burden of 
submission to the government of England had been aggra- 
vated by the mutiny act and other acts for the better enforce- 
ment of the revenue laws, but more especially by the continual 
collision between the king's officers and the recalcitrant 
Americans. 

149. Specify some of these causes of strife. 

Under the mutiny act soldiers had been sent to the colonies 
with orders for their support, but the New York assembly re- 
fused to furnish supplies and was accordingly deprived of its 
legislative power until it should make the appropriation. 
Revenue commissioners were established in America, and in- 
creased powers were given to the courts and officers to enforce 
the acts of trade. The Sons of Liberty raised mobs, interfered 
with and insulted the king's officers, and in one case, in Boston, 
March 5. 1770, so provoked the king's troops that they fired on 
the people, killing three and wounding many. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



35 



150. How did the colonists like that? 

It made them very angry and they had the soldiers tried for 
murder. They called it the " Boston massacre," and made 
political capital of it, but at the trial all the soldiers but two 
were acquitted as having acted in self-defense, and the two 
convicted were found guilty of manslaughter only, and lightly 
punished. 

151. What was the affair of the Gaspee? 

The burning of a king's vessel engaged in collecting the 
revenues by an ti -tariff men from Providence, Rhode Island. 
The offenders escaped detection, but parliament revived an old 
law and ordered that they or others accused of firing his 
majesty's ships, magazines or docks, in America, should be 
transported to England for trial. 

152. What was the " Boston Tea Party ? " 

The malcontents of Boston, having grown bolder through 
popular encouragement, projected an attack on the East India 
Company's tea, which was lying in ships in Boston harbor, 
waiting till the colonists would allow it to be landed. Dec. 16, 
1773, a mob, disguised as Indians, boarded the ships and threw 
some 340 chests of tea overboard. 

153. What action did parliament take to punish this destruc- 
tion of private property ? 

It closed the port of Boston, forbidding vessels leaving or 
entering the harbor. It also annulled the charter of the colony, 
placing its government in the hands of the king's appointed 
officers. Gen. Gage, the commander of the British troops in 
Boston, was made the governor of the colony. 

154. What other hostile acts were passed at this session? 

An act authorizing the transportation to England, for trial, 
of Americans who should commit murder in resisting the laws. 
Also another act making the country north of the Ohio river, 
and between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi, part of the 
province of Quebec, and establishing a system of government 
there quite different from that in the other colonies. 

155. Why was this last named act considered hostile ? 

The colonists resented it because they claimed the Ohio ter- 
ritory as their own, and because the Quebec government estab- 
lished the Roman Catholic Church (to which 95 per cent, of 
the Canadians belonged), instead of some one of the Protest- 
ant sects favored in the other colonies. Also because the 
government was " a tyranny," and therefore different from the 



36 THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 

colonial governments. The existence of this province was 
declared to be (" from so total a dissimilarity of religion, law 
and government")., dangerous to the neighboring colonies " by 
the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country 
was conquered from France."' 

156. What concerted action did the colonists take in view of 
these acts of parliament ? 

An assembly of delegates from all the colonies — except 
Quebec and Georgia — met at Philadelphia in September, 1774. 
This was the first continental congress. It prepared the dec- 
laration of rights, appealed to the king and the British people 
against parliament, and voted to suspend all trade with Eng- 
land till justice should be done to the colonies. Another 
congress was called to meet the following year. 

157. What brought on the war? 

The seizure and destruction of, by the orders of Gen. Gage, 
governor of Massachusetts, certain military stores, collected by 
the Patriots at Concord, Mass. This was done April 19, 1775. 
Resistance was shown first at Lexington, where the assembled 
Patriots were attacked and dispersed by the British troops, and 
afterward at Concord where a similar victory was easily gained 
and the stores destroyed. On the return inarch to Boston, 
however^ the British were continually assailed by bands of 
Patriots posted in ambush beside the roads. So fierce was the 
fire poured upon the redcoats, that the retreat became a rout 
in spite of reinforcements sent out to succor them. 

158. What was the loss on both sides in this action? 

The British lost 273 in killed, wounded and missing; the 
colonists 88 all told. 

159. What happened next? 

Preparation for war was made in all the colonies. The 
second continental congress met May 10 and assumed the gen- 
eral government of the colonies. Washington was appointed 
commander-in-chief of the American forces, and other veterans 
of the French and Indian wars were given subordinate com- 
mands. 

160* What was the first aggressive act of the colonists? 

Considering the act of the Massachusetts men at Concord 
and Lexington to be merely self-defense, the first attack on the 
enemy was the seizure of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, May 
10, by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold at the head of a few 
volunteers from Vermont and Connecticut. No fighting was 
necessary, the enemy being surprised. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



37 



161. What were the other New England Patriots doing at 
this time ? 

Collecting their forces around Boston and virtually besieg- 
ing the city. Gen. Gage had about 10,000 British troops in 
Boston, and the colonial forces surrounding numbered per- 
haps 20,000. 

162. What was the battle of Bunker's Hill? 

The driving of some 1,500 colonial troops from temporary 
entrenchments on a hill overlooking Boston by a force of 3,000 
British regulars. 

163. State the loss on both sides. 

The Americans lost 449; the British, 1,054; the loss in both 
cases being about one-third of the men engaged. 

164. Since the Americans lost the battle why is it celebrated? 
The firmness with which the raw American troops met the 

attack of twice their number of British regulars, was a great 
encouragement to the colonial leaders, so that in its effect on 
the cause the defeat was equivalent to a victory. 

165. Who was the commander of the American troops at 
Bunker Hill? 

There seems to have been no commander-in-chief. Gens. 
Putnam and Warren, and Col. Prescott, commanded different 
detachments, each co-operating with the others and none claim- 
ing precedence. 

166. Under what flag did the colonists fight? 

There is no record of any flag at Bunker Hill.* The first au- 
thorized flag was unfurled Jan. 1, 1776, at Cambridge, Mass. It 
had stripes, as at present, with a double cross in the place now 
occupied by stars. 

167. When did Washington take command of the colonial 
army, and what did he do with it? 

He took command July 3, 1775, and spent the summer organ- 
izing and drilling it. It was not until the following spring 
that he made any attempt to drive the British from Boston. 

168. Did the British fight? 

No; finding their position untenable the British evacuated 
the city. The fleet sailed for Halifax, carrying, beside the 



*There is a tradition that a red flag, with a pine tree on a white field in 
the corner, was hoisted at Bunker Hill, but this seems to have been an 
unauthorized standard. 



38 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



British, about 1,000 American Tories who abandoned their 
homes, fearing to face their fellow colonists. 

169. What were the other colonies doing all this time? 
Preparing for war. The Sons of Liberty in all the colonies 

had seized the governments, and reorganized them on a patri- 
otic basis, and the colonial assemblies co-operated with con- 
gress in providing military supplies. Volunteer bands were 
enlisted, but only for short terms of service, as the people 
refused to believe that the war would be prolonged. 

170. Except in Massachusetts, was there any fighting in 
1775? 

Not in the united colonies; but an expedition sent by the 
American congress against the Canadas, captured Montreal 
and made a fruitless effort to capture Quebec. 

171. Give the history of this expedition. 

One force was despatched under Gen. Montgomery by way 
of Lake Champlain to Montreal which was captured Nov. 13, 
1775. Another force led by Benedict Arnold sailed from 
Boston to the mouth of the Kennebec, passed up that river and 
down the Chaudiere to Quebec, reaching that city some time in 
November. Finding the enemy too strong for him, Arnold 
waited for Montgomery to come from Montreal. Dec. 30, the 
attack was finally made by the combined forces, but by that 
time the British had likewise been reinforced, and the Ameri- 
cans were repulsed. Montgomery was killed, and as the small 
pox broke out in the American camp, Arnold and Schuyler 
(who had succeeded Montgomery), led their disheartened 
troops home without making any further effort even to hold 
what they had gained. 

172. What was England doing? 

Parliament and king were making great preparation to 
subdue the colonies. Parliament voted to send over 25.000 
British and 17,000 Hessian troops; to forbid all trade with the 
colonies, and to declare all colonial ships lawful prize to any 
privateer. No further military attack was made on the 
colonies in this year, however, and the British fleet did little 
beyond levying contributions on the New England coast towns 
and bombarding those who refused to contribute. 

173. When and where was the next attack made on the 
colonies ? 

June 28, 1775, at Charleston, S. C. The city was defended 
by a fort of palmetto logs, garrisoned by Carolinian volunteers 
under CoL Moultrie. After a hard day's battle the British 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



39 



fleet was beaten off, and an attempt to land troops in the 
neighborhood was likewise defeated. 

174. Under what flag did the Carolinians fight? 

Not the union flag used by Washington, but a colonial ban- 
ner, blue, with a crescent in the corner inscribed with the word 
"Liberty.'' (This was the flag hoisted by the heroic Sergeant 
Jasper after it had been shot away.) 

175. Where did the British fleet go after its failure to red nee 
Charleston ? 

It returned to New York, where it landed Sir Henry Clinton 
and his army. Clinton joined forces with Howe, who, coming 
from Halifax, had landed on Staten Island late in June. 

176. Meanwhile, what had congress done? 

At Philadelphia, July 4, the congress had declared the 
colonies free and independent states absolved from their al- 
legiance to the king of England. 

177. W T as the declaration unexpected? 

No; for though the colonists had at first hoped for a satis- 
factory adjustment of affairs with England, they had, for 
nearly a year, faced the probability of a war which could only 
lead to independence or to complete subjugation. The declar- 
ation was but a logical conclusion from the position the colonies 
had taken with regard to their constitutional rights. 

178. Did the declaration prove that the colonists had been 
insincere in their professions of loyalty to the king ? 

It is customary to profess loyalty to the sovereign, even 
when disapproving of his acts, on the theory that his advisers 
are responsible for his errors. The colonists honored the king 
as one in authority, but they claimed the right (exercised by 
the British parliament) to set bounds to the king's authority, 
or even to nullify it in the interest of the commonwealth. 

179. W 7 as the declaration drawn against the king or the 
parliament ? 

Against the king; for the colonists denied that the parlia- 
ment had ever had authority in America, and in the declaration 
they censure the king for "combining with others" to subject 
them to parliamentary rule, by giving his assent to certain 
specified k 'acts of pretended legislation." 

180. Had the declaration been long under debate ? 

The first resolution affirming independence was offered in 
the congress June 7, 1776, by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, 
and was seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts. The 



40 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



question had before this been often debated outside of con- 
gress, and there was a strong public sentiment in favor of such 
a declaration. 

181. Under what circumstances was the measure adopted ? 

The Lee resolutions were passed July 2, and a committee 
was appointed to draw up a formal declaration which was duly 
endorsed by a vote of the house, July 4. 

182. How was the measure received by the public? 

With some degree of enthusiasm, as the colonists were 
generally convinced that it was advisable. There is a tendency, 
however, to exaggerate in the accounts of popular excitement 
over the matter. (Even the story of the ringing of "Liberty 
Bell" is now declared to be without foundation in fact.*) 

183. What was the next battle with the British? 

The battle of Long Island,- wherein about 8,000 Americans, 
posted near Brooklyn, were attacked and routed by 15,000 
British under Gen. Howe. The British lost 400, the Americans 
over 2,000, of whom 1,000 were taken prisoners. Some 3,000 
Americans were hemmed in at Brooklyn, where they would 
have been forced to surrender had Washington not come to 
their rescue, and under cover of darkness and fog transported 
them to the New York shore. 

184. Did Gen. Howe pursue them? 

He did, leisurely. Washington was forced to retreat to 
White Plains, and afterward to North Castle Heights. Howe 
pursued him and several skirmishes were fought, after which 
the British returned to New York, capturing Ft. Washington , 
garrisoned with 3,000 American troops, on the way. 

185. What did Washington do next? 

Crossed into New Jersey with 5,000 men. Here he was 
again pursued by British troops under Cornwallis, and for 
nearly a month the American army retreated constantly, and 



*The local antiquarians of Philadelphia bid us dismiss forever from 
the record the picturesque old bell-ringer and his eager boy waiting 
breathlessly to announce to the assembled thousands the final vote of 
congress on the declaration. The tale is declared to be a pure fiction, of 
which there exists not even a local tradition. The sessions of congress 
were then secret, and there was no expectant crowd outside. It was not 
till the 5th of July that congress sent out circulars announcing the declar- 
ation; not till the 6th that it appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper, and 
not till the 8th that it was read by John Nixon in the yard of Independence 
Hall. — Higginson. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



41 



for a time every one believed that it would soon be dispersed or 
captured. 

186. What force had Washington at this time? 
Between 3,000 and 5,000 men. 

187. Were these all the available troops ? 

Apparently so. There were enlisted or in service in the 
American army in 1776, 47,000 "continentals," and 27,000 
militia, yet the terms of service were so short, the men so un- 
willing to bear the hardships and dangers of the winter cam- 
paign, that Washington was well-nigh deserted and could only 
summon, by way of reinforcement, the few thousand men he 
had left with Lee on the Hudson. 

188. Did Lee march to his relief? 

Yes; the troops came but Lee, himself, lingering at Basking - 
ridge, was captured by the enemy. 

189. What did Washington do in this emergency ? 

By a bold stroke he assailed and captured the Hessian force 
(about 1,000) at Trenton, Dec. 25, and Jan. 3, 1777, attacked 
and routed a larger force of the enemy at Princeton. The 
effect of these victories was to inspire the colonists with re- 
newed hope in the ultimate success of their army. 

190. What was the next move made ? 

Both armies went into winter quarters. Congress, which had 
adjourned to Baltimore, had, before leaving Philadelphia, 
voted to invest Washington with almost supreme powers, and 
these he used to organize a national army on a sound basis. 
The British in New York organized plundering raids into the 
surrounding country. In December, 1776, they captured New- 
port, R. I., which they held for three years; in April, 1777, 
they invaded Connecticut and burned the supplies at Danbury. 
In their retreat from this raid they were attacked by the 
colonists and suffered almost as severely as on the retreat from 
Concord the previous year. 

191. What campaigns were fought in 1777? 

The British planned two campaigns — one, a transfer of the 
seat of war from the Jerseys to Southern Pennsylvania, and 
the other an expedition from Canada down the Hudson river 
valley to New York. 

192. How was the first plan carried out? 

In July Gen. Howe withdrew his forces from New Jersey, 
and, leaving a strong garrison in New York, sailed for Ohesa- 



42 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



peake Bay, taking with him about 18,000 men. Washington 
hastened to defend Philadelphia, but, being defeated at Brandy- 
wine river and at Germantown, withdrew to Valley Forge, leav- 
ing the British in possession of the chief city of the colonies. 

193. What was the result of the invasion from Canada ? 

The invasion of New York from Canada, begun by Gen. 
Burgoyne some time in June, resulted disastrously for the 
British and ended with the surrender of Burgoyne and his army 
at Saratoga, Oct. 17. 

194. What battles were fought in this campaign? 

The noted battles are those of Oriskany, Aug. 6, Bennington, 
Aug. 16, and the battle of Saratoga, Oct. 7. The first battle 
was won by the British, under St. Leger, assisted by Indians 
and Tories, who thereupon laid siege to Ft. Schuyler but were 
soon driven back to the Canadian line by the Americans under 
Arnold. Burgoyne, who, with the main body of the army, was 
at this time near Saratoga, sent a force of 800 against Ben- 
nington, Yt., where the British were attacked and beaten by a 
brigade of state militia. In the battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne 
was worsted and forced to retreat and finally to surrender. 

195. What effect did this victory have on the American cause ? 
It proved of great advantage, as it not only weakened the 

enemy but also encouraged the Americans and enabled them 
to obtain help from France. 

196. W T hat aid was obtained from France ? 

Feb. 6, 1778, France made a treaty of alliance with the 
United States and agreed to send a fleet of 16 vessels and an 
army of 4,000 men to assist them in their war with Englandc 

197. What did England do then? 

England declared war against France and invited the United 
States to help her, offering them all they had asked when the 
war began. The colonies, of course, declined. 

198. What effect did the approach of French reinforcements 
have on the situation in America? 

Clinton, who had succeeded Howe, in command in Philadel- 
phia, set out for New York to unite the British forces before 
the French should arrive. Washington followed and an inde- 
cisive battle was fought June 28, at Monmouth, N. J. After the 
battle the British retired to New York city, and Washington 
took up his position in the Hudson river valley near Tarry- 
town. 

199. What was the next move? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



43 



The British moved their forces to the southern states, re- 
taining only New York and Newport, R. L, at the north. Dec. 
29 the British captured Savannah, and the state of Georgia 
was soon overrun by them. 

200. What other attacks were made on the Americans in 
1778? 

The massacre, July 4, of many settlers in the valley of 
Wyoming — now in the state of Pennsylvania but then con- 
sidered a part of Connecticut — by a band of British and Mo- 
hawk Indians. Also a similar massacre in Cherry Valley, N. Y., 
Nov. 10. 

201. How were these outrages punished? 

In 1779 congress sent an army under Gen. Sullivan into the 
Indian country to kill, burn and destroy till the country became 
almost a desert, the remnant of the hostile tribes taking refuge 
in Canada. 

202. What was done in 1779? 

Very little in the way of warfare. The British in Georgia 
and New York city sent plundering expeditions against the 
colonists. July 15, Gen. Anthony Wayne captured the British 
stronghold of Stony Point on the Hudson river. In the follow- 
ing September the Americans under Gen. Lincoln attacked 
Savannah, but though they had the help of the French fleet 
they were repulsed. Guerrilla warfare continued throughout 
the year, but no campaigns were attempted. 

203. What noted sea fight occurred in this year ? 

The battle between the British frigate Serapis, and the Bon- 
homme Richard, an American privateer commanded by Paul 
Jones. This occurred Sept. 23, 1779. (Naval warfare in the 
revolution was confined to piratical attacks on merchant vessels. 
The capture of the Serapis was the first fight between equals.) 

204. What was done in 1780? 

The British invaded South Carolina, capturing Charleston 
May 12, and overrunning the state in the course of the year. 
Gen. Gates was sent against them with a large force of militia 
and a few regular troops, but was defeated at the battle of 
Camden, Aug. 16. At King's Mountain, N. C, a raiding British 
force of 1,000 men was routed by the Americans, but in South 
Carolina they held undisputed sway. 

205. Give an account of the treason of Arnold. 

Benedict Arnold, a major-general in the American service, 
bargained with the British General Clinton to deliver up the 



44 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN 



fortress of West Point, which he (Arnold) then commanded. 
The treason was discovered by the capture of Major John 
Andre, Clinton's messenger. Sept. 22 Andre was hanged as a 
spy, but Arnold escaped to the British camp where he was re- 
warded with a brigadier general's commission. 

206. What was done in the Carolinas in 1781? 

Gen. Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island, took command of 
the American forces late in 1780. On the 17th of the follow- 
ing January he, or rather his subordinate, Gen. Morgan, de- 
feated the British cavalry raider, Tarleton, at the battle of the 
Cowpens, "a pasture field near Spartanburgh, S. C. Greene 
joined Morgan, but both were obliged to fall back before Corn- 
wallis. At Guilford Court House, N. C, in March, 1881, he gave 
battle to the British general, but was defeated by him and 
forced to retreat. 

207. Where did Cornwallis go then? 

Northward into Virginia, where Benedict Arnold, as a British 
general, was plundering and laying waste the country. The 
Marquis de Lafayette, in command of an American force, was 
watching Arnold but was too weak to attack him. 

208. Who was left to command the British in the Carolinas? 
Lord Rawdon. He proved to be no match for Greene, who, 

though defeated at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs, fairly 
forced the enemy to take refuge in Charleston and kept him 
there till the end of the war. 

209. How did Cornwallis succeed in Virginia? 

He was practically unopposed in crossing the state. He 
fixed his head-quarters at Yorktown from which point he pro- 
posed to command the state. 

210. Were his plans successful? 

No; on the contrary, Lafayette reinforced from the French 
fleet, was able to keep the British in Yorktown until Washington 
could bring his army from New York and lay seige to the town. 
The British sent reinforcements to Cornwallis but the French 
fleet beat them off. 

211. What was the result ? 

Cornwallis was obliged to surrender his whole army, which 
he did Oct. 19, 1781. 

212. What effect did this have in England? 

The news of the surrender at Yorktown caused the resigna- 
tion of the English ministry and the new ministry was ready 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



45 



to make peace. An armistice was declared and commissioners 
appointed to negotiate a treaty. 

213. When was peace made? 

Peace was secured by a treaty signed Sept. 3, 1783. The 
British evacuated Savannah in July, 1782, Charleston in the 
following December, and New York, November 25, 1783. 

214. How many men had the British in the revolutionary 
war? 

Great Britain sent over, at different times, forces aggregating 
over 130,000 men. Of these some 22,000 were seamen. Yet 
Johnston computes that the British never had in active service 
in America, at any one time, more than 40,000 men. 

215. How many Germans fought against us ? 

The German States of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse- 
Hanan, Waldeck, Anspach, and Anhalt-Zerbst, furnished in all 
29,166 men, of whom 17,313 returned. Of the missing 11,853, 
many had been killed, of course, but many also are known to 
have deserted to settle in America. 

216. What was the military force of the Americans ? 

The states claimed to have furnished 231,791 men, but this 
includes the militia and volunteers for a short term. John- 
ston computes that 40,000 would be a large estimate of the 
strength of the regular army at any one time, not counting the 
minute men or militia. 

217. What help did America receive from France, under the 
treaty of alliance? 

France furnished money and supplies, and sent over some 
15,000 soldiers. She also sent a fleet to attack that of Great 
Britain on the American coasts. But though the French fleet 
drove the British from Newport, R. I., and a French army re- 
inforced Washington in the Hudson Valley, their first great and 
indispensable service was rendered at the siege of Yorktwown. 
Indirectly, of course, the alliance was most beneficial to the 
American cause. 

218. How much did the w 7 ar cost the combatants? 

The cost to the Americans has been computed at something 
over $135,000,000. The cost to Great Britain is not stated, but 
we know that it was very great. Her national debt was in- 
creased during this period by over $610,000,000. 

219. How much was paid to Washington for his services in 
the revolutionary war? 



46 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Washington refused a salary, and asked only for the repay- 
ment of his expenses, which amounted, according to his 
reckoning, to $64,315. 

220. How were the soldiers in the revolutionary war paid ? 
The continental soldiers were paid by congress, so far as 

that body could raise money to pay them. Having no revenue 
but that supplied by the states, congress resorted to all sorts of 
devices to borrow the money necessary to carry on the war. 
Paper money was issued until it became almost worthless; 
lottery loans were authorized; subsidies were begged from 
France, and bonds issued on the joint guarantees of all 
the states. For all that, the soldiers were ill-paid, and were 
often driven to mutiny by the delay in paying them. 

221. What special remuneration was promised to the officers? 
By the advice of Washington, congress promised the officers 

who served through the war, half pay for life. After the war 
was over, the promise of half pay was commuted to an advance 
payment (in 6 per cent, certificates) equal to five years' full pay 
in the case of each veteran officer. 

222. Did America exert her full strength during the revolu- 
tionary war? 

She did not. Comparing the revolutionary war with the 
civil war of 1861-5, we find that in the percentage of the popu- 
lation sent into the field, and in the percentage of wealth placed 
at the service of the government, the revolutionists were 
very deficient.* 

223. Were they deficient in patriotism? 

Not necessarily. They lacked especially political training 
and political organization. Had the government been as well 
organized as it was in 1861, and the people as well trained to 
obedience to, and reliance upon, the civil authority, the war 
might have been ended in 1778. 

224. How did the Americans set to work to govern them- 
selves ? 

Even before the declaration of independence some of the 
colonies had remodeled their government to exclude the king's 
authority. Thus the house of representatives would select a 
council to take the place of the one previously appointed by 



*Fisk computes that in the revolutionary war not more than 9 per cent, 
of the men were under arms at any one time, while in the late civil war the 
northern army reached a percentage of at least 20 in every 100 adult 
males. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



47 



the king, and the two houses in joint assembly would select a 
president or governor. This organization, however, was mere- 
ly temporary. In 1778-80, new constitutions were adopted by 
the several states, which thereby became free and independent 
commonwealths, accepting as a bond of union the authority of 
congress . 

225. What authority was conceded to congress ? 

The powers conceded to congress were almost precisely those 
the colonies had offered to concede to their king. The power 
to appoint the governors of the colonies was, of course, with- 
drawn, as it would eventually have been denied to, the king, but 
for the rest, congress possessed the sovereign dignity of the 
United States, with power to recommend, but no power to 
legislate, and with power to negotiate treaties, declare peace or 
war, but no more executive power than pertains to the British 
sovereign to-day. 

226. How was this idea of a union formulated? 

In the articles of confederation drawn up by the congress in 
1777, and finally established by the consent of the states in 
1781. 

227. What were the main points in the articles of confedera- 
tion? 

Congress was to consist of one house of delegates from the 
several states, each state sending not less than two or more than 
seven delegates, and each delegation having an equal voice in 
the decision of any question. To congress was entrusted 
the diplomatic relations of the union with foreign countries, 
the common defense in war times, the regulation of the coin- 
age, postofrice, etc., in accordance with the general welfare, and 
the power to decide finally ail disputes between states. The 
expenses of the federal government were to be assessed upon 
and paid by the state governments, which were also to remune- 
rate their members of congress. No provision was made for 
any president or chief magistrate of any kind, and there was 
to be no national judiciary. 

228. What was the most commendable provision of this 
agreement ? 

The provision that the citizens of any state should be en- 
titled to the privileges and immunities of citizens in all other 
states. This was the first step toward nationality. 

229. Was the confederation a tolerable form of government ? 
So far as it affected the people, yes. Yet it is doubtful 

whether the union under it could have long existed. This 



48 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



union simply enabled the states to shirk duties and responsi- 
bilities, so that the confederation provoked strife rather than 
allayed it. Standing alone, the states would have been obliged 
to make their own treaties and abide by them, or if they 
chose to repudiate any obligation, they would have to do so at 
their own proper peril. Moreover, each state would be 
responsible for its financial obligations, and for those of no 
other state. 

230. What treaty provisions were the states inclined to 
repudiate? 

Those of the treaty of peace with England, relating to the 
payment of debts due to Englishmen and the treatment of the 
xlmerican tories. England had asked that Americans pay 
their honest debts contracted before the war. and that those 
Americans who had remained loyal to the king should be allowed 
to reside in the union and receive the protection of the civil 
authority. The faith of congress was pledged to carry out 
these provisions of the treaty, but the states refused to enforce 
them. 

231. Were not the debts paid? 

No; Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania. Maryland, 
Virginia and South Carolina all enacted laws obstructing the 
payment of the debts to British creditors, presenting as 
counter claims a demand for the value of negro slaves, who 
were said to have escaped during the British invasion. 

232. How were the tories treated? 

Considering the slight claims the colonial governments had 
ever had to their allegiance, the tories were very harshly 
treated for having preferred to remain loyal to the king. Not 
only did they suffer social ostracism and mob violence, from 
which the authorities would not protect them — but the state 
legislatures made laws against them. As a result, nearly 
100.000 persons were driven from the country. 

233. What did England do about it? 

Many of the refugees applied to her for relief, which she 
generously afforded, distributing some 816.000.000 among 
4.000 destitute persons, and aiding many others with grants of 
Canadian land, military and civil appointments or special 
annuities. 

231. Did she make any effort to punish the Americans for 
their breach of faith? 
She was not ready to begin war again, though she might 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



49 



have intimidated the s ates had she been able to deal with 
them singly. She refused, however, to evacuate the forts 
north of the Ohio river, and held that country twelve years by 
way of indemnity. 

235. What can you say of the state constitutions first 
adopted ? 

They form the bases of the constitutions as they exist today. 
Generally speaking, they provided for an assembly of two 
houses elected by the people ; a chief magistrate or governor 
and a system of state courts. In detail they differed not a little 
from each other and from the organic law of the states of to- 
day. 

236. Note the peculiarities with regard to the state legisla- 
tures. 

They consisted of two houses, a lower house styled the house 
of burgesses, the commons or the assembly, and an upper 
house called the council, or in one state (Virginia) the senate. 
The members of the lower house were elected directly by the 
people in all the states, but those of the senate or council were 
in Maryland chosen by electors specially elected for that pur- 
pose, and in several other states were voted for at a special 
election at which a property qualification was demanded of the 
voter. Except in Pennsylvania, members of both houses were 
required to be men of property. 

237. How were the chief magistrates elected? 

In New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the exec- 
utive authority was exercised by a committee or council, the 
president of which was also president of the state, there being 
no regular governor. In the other states (except in New 
York,where the governor was elected by the people), the gov- 
ernors were chosen by the legislature, and were required to 
possess considerable property, in order that they might live as 
became their office. 

238. What degree of power was vested in these governors? 
A very slight degree, as the people, from their experience 

with their colonial governors, had learned to distrust a power- 
ful executive. In Massachusetts alone was the governor allow- 
ed a veto, and only in Massachusetts, New York and Mary- 
land did the governors possess any power of appointment,even 
subject to the approval of the senate. Even in ministerial du- 
ties the governor was, except in New York, forced to act 
through a cabinet appointed by the legislature. 

239. What of the state judiciary? 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The states generally retained their old courts, subject to 
amended regulations. The judges were in some cases elected 
by the people and in others appointed by the legislature. In 
Georgia, the county judges were elected annually; in New 
Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, they were appointed for 
a term of seven years, and in the other states they held office 
during good behavior. 

240. Except in the appointment of judges, was the judiciary 
independent of, and distinct from, the other branches of gov- 
ernment? 

In most of the states, yes. New York, however, followed 
the constitution of England in making its senate the supreme 
court of errors, and in New Jersey the governor and council 
constituted the court of appeals, as had been the case in all the 
colonies previous to the revoluticn. 

241. How were the delegates to the continental congress se- 
lected ? 

By the constitution of Georgia and the second constitution 
of New Hampshire (adopted 1783), these delegates were elect- 
ed by the people. In all other states they were appointed by 
the legislature. 

242. Who possessed the franchise in the states? 

Adult male citizens who possessed the state property or 
taxpaying qualifications.* The demands of the law in this re- 
gard varied in the different states. but were not onerous except 
in Virginia and in the senatorial elections in some states! 

243. Were other qualifications demanded? 

Not from voters, but some of the states retained religious 
qualifications for officeholders,discriminating especially against 
Roman Catholics. (These were finally abolished by the adop- 
tion of the federal constitution.) 



CHAPTER III. — THE FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

244. How long did the confederation last? 

From the date of its adoption in 1781 to the establishment 
of the union under the constitution in 1788. 

245. What led to the remodeling of the union ? 
Dissatisfaction with the articles of confederation and inabil- 



* The constitution of New Jersey, adopted in 1776, conferred the 
right of suffrage on all possessing certain property qualifications, 
irrespective of sex, but this was repealed in 1807. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 5 1 

ity to agree on the amendment of the same. From the close 
of the \var in 1783— if not from an earlier date — to the calling 
of the federal convention in 1787, the amendment of the ar- 
ticles of confederation had been debated in public and in pri- 
vate without the formation of a party for any rational plan of 
improvement. There had grown up, however, a Federal party 
— a party in favor of a single government for the entire union, 
in place of the existing league of independent sovereignties. 
The constitution, as finally adopted, was to some extent a com- 
promise, but it was none the less a triumph for the Federal- 
ists. 

246. When and by whom was the United States constitution 
framed ? 

In 1787, by a convention of commissioners from all the 
states except Rhode Island, that met and organized at Phila- 
delphia May 25, and continued in session until Sept. 17 of the 
same year. 

247. Why did the convention propose a radical change in 
the form of government? 

There was great opposition to attempting anything furthe 1 " 
than the revision and amendment of the articles of confedera" 
tion. Many contended that the convention was not authorized 
to frame a new constitution. But the feeling in favor of "a 
more perfect union" was strong, and the convention resolved 
to formulate a new scheme of government and submit it to 
the people for ratification. 

248. Was it justified in doing so? 

Theoretically it was bound to confine its action to the pur- 
poses for which it was called together. In so far as it saw fit 
to overstep its authority, it could be justified only by popular 
approval. That approval was granted when the people ratified 
the constitution. 

249. Why was a national government demanded? 

In order to give credit to the union abroad and to secure 
more efficient administration of affairs at home. The articles 
of confederation had operated according to the original inten- 
tion, but the freedom of the states did not compensate them 
for their lack of unity of action. Moreover, local disturbances, 
like Shays's rebellion in Massachusetts, could best be dealt with, 
it was thought, by a federal authority. 

250. What was "Shays' rebellion?" 

In the winter of 1786-87, there was an insurrection of the 
poorer farmers in Western Massachusetts under the leadership 



52 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN- 



of Daniel Shays. The insurgents demanded a release from 
old debts, or, at least, a stay law to prevent the collection of 
such debts by the courts. Owing to popular sympathy with 
the insurgents, the state authority had considerable difficulty 
in suppressing them. 

251. Was there also need of a national government as an 
arbiter between the states ? 

Yes. Disputes had already risen, some on account of com- 
mercial jealousy and consequent discrimination, and some 
from conflicting territorial claims. New York especially was 
at odds with the neighboring colonies of Connecticut and New 
Jersey, Whose productions she excluded by a high tariff. As to 
territorial disputes, those of the west were to be settled by a 
general cession to the federal government; but there remained 
special cases like the claim of Connecticut to her colony in the 
Wyoming valley, which could not be settled in that way. 

252. How was the dispute settled? 

A special federal commission, appointed by the confederation, 
awarded the territory to Pennsylvania. This should not have 
affected the title of the colonists to their lands, but the Penn- 
syivanians chose to consider them interlopers, and in many 
ways tried to force them to return to Connecticut. Aid was 
refused to the colony when inundated by an extraordinary rise 
in the river. A force of militia, sent ostensibly to preserve or- 
der, burned hundreds of habitations to induce the people to 
migrate. Finally, when the colonists took up arms in defense 
of their rights many were arrested and sent to jail. 

253. What was the conclusion of the matter? 

It nearly led to strife between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, 
but the better nature of the Pennsylvanians was awakened, and 
the state government was obliged to promise the Wyoming 
colonists protection from their enemies and reparation for their 
wrongs. 

254. To what peculiar feature in the state government was 
this settlement due? 

The Pennsylvanian government then contained a chamber 
of censors — like that nominally existing in Bolivia, or like the 
Tu-chah-ytien of China. The principal duty of this chamber 
was a periodical inquiry into, and report upon, the conduct of 
the government. In this report the treatment of the Wj^oming 
settlers was severely condemned and public opinion enlisted in 
their favor. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



53 



255. In devising a more perfect union for the American 
states, what kind of government was proposed? 

A true federation, establishing a duplex authority over the 
individual citizen, so that the enforcement of the federal laws 
should not depend on the action or non-action of the state au- 
thorities. 

256. To what was the adoption of this form due? 

As it happened, to the absence from the constitutional con- 
vention of Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The states, 
voting as units, stood six in favor of a federation to five for an 
improved confederacy. The six were all large states — Virginia, 
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, the two Carolinas, and Georgia. 
The minor states, fearing loss of power in the federation, voted 
against it, and had the two absent states been represented, 
would have defeated it. 

257. Into how many departments was the proposed govern- 
ment to be divided ? 

Three ; the legislative, the executive and the judicial. 

258. How is the legislative branch formed? 

According to the constitution the federal congress consists 
of two houses, one elected by the people and the other chosen 
by the states. This arrangement was arrived at after long de- 
bate and the consideration of various claims. The object of the 
convention was to satisfy the large states by giving them rep 
resentation according to population, and the small states by 
granting them equality. As there was a general prejudice in 
favor of two houses, it was easy to gratify both claimants by 
incorporating the equality principle in the senate, and the pro 
rata principle in the house. 

259. But this does not account for the difference in the meth- 
od of election. 

No ; there were some who wished to have the senators chos- 
en by popular vote, even as there were some who wished to 
make the election of representatives indirect. As it happened, 
each of the proposed methods of election was given a trial, the 
house being elected in one way, the senate in another, and the 
president in still another.* 



*In fact, the ordinary methods of election were exhausted with the 
exception of the general ticket plan, that is now used in the choice 
of presidential electors. The states were used to the unit rule, but 
they do not seem to have considered the plan of electing- the state's 
quota of representatives by scrutin de liste. 



54 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



260. In whom was the executive power of the federal gov- 
ernment vested? 

In a single chief magistrate or president, chosen for a fixed 
term by the people of the states in indirect election. 

261. Was the convention unanimous in setting up this kind 
of an executive? 

No ; there was a general agreement that an executive officer 
was necessary and the states had each a single governor. It 
was strange, therefore, that there should be (as there was) strong 
objection to a single chief magistrate, as too closely resembling 
a monarchy. A triumvirate — three executives, representing 
three different parts of the union, was the alternative proposal, 
and it was only after three days' earnest debate that the ques- 
tion was settled by a vote of seven to three in favor of a single 
chief magistrate. 

262. How about the election of the chief magistrate? 

It was first decided that the president should be chosen by 
the congress for the term of seven years, and that he was to be 
ineligible for re-election. The change to the choice by electors 
for a four years' term was made in the committee entrusted 
with the drafting of the constitution. 

263. What of the judicial branch of the government? 

A federal supreme court was provided for and the creation 
of lower federal courts was left to congress. The judiciary of 
the states was naturally the model of the federal judiciary, and 
the matter was settled with little debate. 

264. How was the new constitution ratified? 

By state conventions of delegates chosen by the people for 
that purpose. The people, therefore, practically voted upon 
the question of accepting or rejecting the new federal organic 
law. 

265. Did the confederation exist until the constitution was 
adopted ? 

Not entirely ; the confederation was dissolved by common 
consent before the union was established. The form of gov- 
ernment remained until superseded, but the articles of con- 
federation were ignored. 

266. How did this appear in the adoption of the constitution? 
By the articles of confederation, any alteration therein 

could be made only with the consent of all the states. The 
constitution declared the union established whenever nine of 
the states had assented to it. This would imply — on the theory 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



55 



that the confederation still existed— that the nine ratifying 
states had first seceded from the confederation, an offense 
with which they were never charged. 

267. How was the constitution received by the nation? 

It was favorably received by the congress, to which it was 
first submitted, and by which it was transmitted to the states. 
In the popular vote, there appeared strong opposition to the 
proposed federal government, but the political leaders of the 
people were generally in favor of it, and within a year eleven 
states signified their acceptance of the constitution. 

268. When, and in what order, did the ratifications occur? 
In 1787 — Dec. 7, Delaware; Dec. 12, Pennsylvania; Dec. 

18. New Jersey. In 1788— Jan. 2, Georgia; Jan. 9, Connecticut; 
Feb. 6, Massachusetts; April 28, Maryland; May 23, South 
Carolina; June 21, New Hampshire; June 26, Virginia; July 
26, New York. 

269. What two states withheld their ratifications till the 
union was actually organized? 

North Carolina and Rhode Island ; these states adopted the 
constitution Nov. 21, 1789, and May 29, 1790, respectively. 

270. Was the constitution, as first adopted, complete and 
satisfactory ? 

No ; the first congress that met under the constitution pro- 
posed twelve amendments to it, and ten of these amendments 
were ratified by the states. 

271. What deficiency was supplied by these amendments? 
The lack of a bill of rights, which was desired to prevent 

tyranny on the part of congress. This lack had been urged 
as an argument against the adoption of the constitution. (The 
first eight amendments, it will be seen, guard the individual 
rights of the citizen ; the ninth and tenth place a check on the 
power of congress.) 

272. What time was set for organizing under the new con- 
stitution ? 

As soon as the ratifications of nine states were certified to 
the continental congress, that body passed a resolution appoint- 
ing the first Wednesday of January, 1789, for the choice of 
presidential electors; the first Wednesday of February for the 
election of president and vice-president, and the first Wednes- 
day of March (the 4th of that month) as the time, and New 
Vork — "the present seat of congress" — as the place, for the 
organization of the new govei nment. 



56 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



273. Was this programme carried out? 

No; the ratifying states — with the exception of New York 
— appointed electors, by whom Gen. Washington was duly 
selected for the presidency, but owing to delay in the congres- 
sional elections and to difficulty in traveling, the new govern- 
ment could not be organized March 4. Congress did not 
organize, from lack of quorum, till March 30, and the electoral 
vote was not counted till April 6. Then came another delay 
to await the arrival of the president elect, so that the inaugur- 
ation was not reached until April 30. 

274. What became of the continental congress? 

It seems to have dispersed without even the formality of 
adjournment. As soon as the adoption of the constitution be- 
came certain, the members of the old congress began to desert 
it, and though a few attended for some time, no action was 
possible from lack of a quorum. 



CHAPTER IV. — THE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNION. 

275. Who was the first president of the United States, and 
how was he elected? 

George Washington. He was elected Feb. 4, 1789, receiving 
sixty-nine electoral votes, that being the whole number of 
electors voting. (In accordance with the constitution at that 
time, each elector voted by ballot for two candidates for the 
presidency, and Washington was the first or second choice in 
each case ) 

276. Which states did not join in this election? 

Rhode Island and North Carolina, which were not in the 
union, and New York, which had failed to appoint electors, 
owing to a disagreement between the two houses of her as- 
sembly as to the method of selection. 

277. How were the electors generally appointed? 

The constitution left the method to the discretion of the 
state, and in most cases the appointments were made by the 
legislature. In Virginia, the electors were chosen in districts 
by the popular vote. In Massachusetts, the people of each 
congressional district chose three candidates, from whom the 
legislature selected one. 

278. In case of choice by the legislature what dispute 
arose ? 

In the absence of laws or fixed rules, it was doubtful whether 
electors and senators should be elected by the houses in joint 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



57 



assembly, or by the same voting separately. This question was 
settled in one way or the other, in all states but New York. 
There the federal senate insisted on its concurrent right and 
refused to join with the anti-federal house, and as a conse- 
quence neither electors nor senators were chosen. The ques- 
tion was also raised whether the governor had not a voice in 
the election, but this was soon settled in the negative. 

279. Who was the first vice-president of the union and how 
was he elected? 

John Adams ; he received thirty-four electoral votes for pres- 
ident, the vote standing next to that for Washington, though 
only a plurality and not a majority of the votes cast. As the 
constitution then stood, he was elected. 

28 j. Who formed the cabinet of the new administration? 

Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state; Alexander Hamilton, 
secretary of the treasury; Henry Knox, secretary of war; and 
Edmund Randolph, attorney general. 

281. How were the houses of congress organized? 

Each house was empowered to organize itself and decide up- 
on its own rules of action. In the senate, where the vice-presi- 
dent was, ex officio, the presiding officer, the committees were 
chosen by ballot. In the house, Frederic A. Muhlenberg was 
made speaker and authorized to appoint committees of three 
members or less, the larger committees being selected by bal- 
lot. (Afterward this restriction was removed and all commit- 
tees — unless specially ordered — appointed by the speaker.) 

282. Were the committees then as important as they now 
are? 

No; there was but one permanent committee — that on elec- 
tion — for several sessions, and for many years there were but 
four or five. 

283. How was the judiciary department provided for? 

In accordance with the constitution, a bill was passed, creat- 
ing a supreme court of one chief justice and five associate jus- 
tices, and these offices were filled by the president, with the 
approval of the senate. (John Jay was the first chief justice.) 
District and circuit courts were also provided, each state form- 
ing a district, and three states grouped together forming a 
circuit. 

284. What business first claimed the attention of the govern- 
ment ? 



58 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The raising of revenue for the federal treasury ,the provision 
for the debts of the nation and the several states, the improve- 
ment of our relations with other countries, and the organiza- 
tion and government of the federal territories. 

285. How was revenue raised? 

By the imposition of a tariff on imports and the laying of a 
tax on spirits. There were other taxes, but in them the revenue 
was merely incidental. 

286. What principle was established in these first revenue 
acts ? 

The principle of protection to American industries, to which 
the question of raising revenue was made to yield. 

287. How was the currency of the country provided for? 

A mint was established at Philadelphia in I7QI, for the pro- 
duction of the coins authorized by the continental congress, 
and the same year a bank of the United States was also char- 
tered. (There were already three state banks at Philadelphia, 
New York and Boston.) 

288 What coinage act had been passed by the previous con- 
gress ? 

Aug. 6, 1786, an act was passed providing for a national cur- 
rency, of which the dollar was the unit. With the Spanish 
dollar the American people were acquainted, and the decimal 
system made it easy for them to trade in the smaller coins. 

289. What provision was made for the debts of the nation 
and the states ? 

At the beginning of the session of 1790, the secretary of the 
treasury offered a plan for the assumption of the war debt of 
the states, and the funding of the entire national debt. There 
was a national debt to foreign countries of nearly twelve mill- 
ions, a national debt to Americans of some forty-three millions, 
beside the state debts, estimated in the aggregate at twenty-one 
millions. 

290. How was this bill received by -the congress? 

At first it met with violent opposition, and was rejected, but 
it was brought forward again and finally passed as the result 
of a bargain between Hamilton and Morris on the one side and 
the Virginian members on the other. In accordance with this 
agreement, the assumption bill passed by a vote of 32 to 29, 
after a bill to remove the national capital had been forced 
through by the narrow majority of three. 



UNITED STATES H I STOXY. 



59 



291. Whither was the capital to be removed? 

To Philadelphia for ten years, and after that to be fixed per- 
manently at a town specially laid out for it on the Potomac 
river. In accordance with this plan, the city of Washington 
was founded. 

292. What was the result of the funding of the debt? 

The debt increased for a few years, till in 1804 it amounted 
to over eighty-six millions. After that it was gradually reduced 
by payment and finally discharged in 1835. 

293. What was the nature of the external relations of the 
union under the new government? 

Commercial treaties were negotiated with the countries oi 
Europe, excepting England, for the benefit of our foreign trade. 
A treaty was made with Morocco, in the hope of protecting 
American merchant vessels from the piratical cruisers of the 
North African states. Of more general interest were the ne- 
gotiations with England concerning the northern boundary, 
those with Spain concerning the Florida boundary and the nav- 
igation of the Mississippi, and those with the various tribes of 
Indians inhabiting the western territories. 

294. What was the northern boundary dispute with Eng- 
land? 

In retaliation for the action of the states in obstructing the 
collection of debts to British subjects, England kept possession 
of her posts in the northwestern territory until 1796. The 
garrisons at these posts encouraged the Indian tribes in their 
resistance to the settlement of the northwest, and assured them 
of England's protection and assistance. The removal of the 
British garrisons from these posts was greatly desired by the 
Americans, as the first step towards perfecting their title to the 
country. 

295. What was the purpose of the negotiations with Spain? 
The delimitation of the boundary between Florida and the 

United States, and the opening of the Mississippi river to nav- 
igation. Spain then held the province of Louisiana, covering 
both sides of the Mississippi river at its mouth, and her laws 
forbade the navigation of that stream by the vessels of foreign- 
ers. She was also suspected of plotting to detach the Missis- 
sippi territories from the union, with a view to forming them 
into a separate state under the protection of Spain. 

296. What were the relations of the Union with the Indian 
tribes of the west? 

The Indian tribes of the territories being large and pqwer^ 



6o 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN 9 



ful, and in immediate contact with the settlers, peace and 
friendship with them was of the highest importance. Treaties 
were negotiated with the Six Nations at Ft. Stanwix in 1784, 
with the Wyandots, Delawares, Chippewas and Ottawas at Ft. 
Mc. Intosh in 1785 and with the Cherokees at Hopewell in the 
same year. The two first named treaties were confirmed the 
year following at Ft. Harmar, when the Indians were paid for 
the land ceded. 

297. Were these treaties sufficient to maintain peace with 
the Indians? 

No ; there were minor tribes who had not joined in the treat- 
ies, and those of the treaty Indians who were nearest the set- 
tlements and exposed to the irritating encroachments of the 
pioneers, were soon ready for war again. 

298. What was the condition of the northwest territories at 
the beginning of Washington's administration? 

All the northwest territories had been ceded by the states to 
the union. The ordinance of 1787 had provided a territorial 
government for the country west of Pennsylvania and north 
of the Ohio. Slavery was to be forever forbidden in this ter- 
ritory, which was to be governed by federal appointees till the 
country was settled, and after that to be divided and given 
power of self-government. The country was being rapidly 
settled by pioneers from the east, especially from New Eng- 
land. 

299. What was the condition of the southwest territory ? 

In the southwest settlement was much further advanced. 
The territory now included in Kentucky and Tennessee had 
been settled in places for fifteen or twenty years. Kentucky 
remained a part of Virginia until she was admitted as a state, 
but Tennessee was, in 1790, ceded to the union by North Car- 
olina. South of Tennessee the country was still a wilderness 
possessed by the Indians, bat claimed by South Carolina, 
Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. 

300. What was the state of Franklin? 

Franklin, or Frankland,was the name given to Tennessee by 
the settlers, who, in 1784, revolted against the rule of North 
Carolina, and established a state government. The pretext of 
the revolution was an act ceding Tennessee to the federal gov- 
ernment, which was, however, almost immediately repealed. 
The revolutionists were headed by John Sevier, whom they 
elected governor. 

301. Was the revolution suppressed? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



61 



Yes; but not by military force. The revolutionary govern- 
ment maintained itself for some years, even after many of the 
Tennesseeans had acknowledged submission to North Caroli- 
na, and held elections for members of the North Carolina as- 
sembly. This division of sentiment among the people led to 
strife and threatened civil war, but the adherents of North 
Carolina prevailed and the state of Franklin was suppressed. 



chapter v — Washington's administration. 

302. How long was Washington president? 

Eight years — from 1789 to 1797 — being reelected in 1793 by 
the unanimous vote of the presidential electors. (John Adams 
was also reelected vice president.) 

303. Note the chief events of this administration. 

The admission of states into the union, an Indian war in the 
northwest, and a domestic insurrection against the taxes levied 
on whisky. Also, the establishment of a national bank, and 
the invention of the cotton-gin. 

304. What new states were admitted, and in what years? 
Leaving out of count North Carolina and Rhode Island — 

quasi-states, that delayed ratifying the constitution — the new 
states were: Vermont, admitted in 1791 ; Kentucky, 1792, and 
Tennessee, 1796. 

305. When was Vermont colonized? 

Vermont was never recognized as a colony either by the king 
or by the other colonies. The territory was claimed both by New 
York and New Hampshire, and Massachusetts preferred a claim 
to the southern part. During the revolutionary war — just pre- 
vious to Burgoyne's invasion— the "Green Mountain Boys" 
declared Vermont a separate state,denying allegiance to any oth- 
er state. Congress at first refused to consider the application of 
the new state, denying the authority of the Vermont govern- 
ment. Informal negotiations with Canada were then (17S1) 
begun, to the. great disturbance of the continental congress, 
which virtually pledged itself to admit the new state, on con- 
dition that the boundary lines on its east and west sides were 
satisfactorily established. 

306. Was this promise fullfilled? 

No; Vermont fulfilled the conditions, but the congress, un- 
der the Confederation, neglected to pass an enabling act. 



62 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Hence Vermont continued as a territory, virtually governing 
itself until 1791. 

307. How was she then admitted? 

In that year, New York state ceased her vain attempts to 
reestablish her authority in Vermont, and desiring the vote of 
the new state to keep the national capital at New York city, 
she withdrew her opposition to the act of admission. (Ver- 
mont paid $30,000 to indemnify the holders of New York 
grants to her lands.) 

308. Whence the name of this state? 

The name was taken from the French for Green Mountains. 

309. When was Kentucky admitted into the union ? 

Kentucky, the western part of Virginia, was separated there- 
from in 1792, and admitted as a separate state. The country 
was first explored some twenty or thirty years previous to this, 
but at the date of its admission it contained nearly 75,000 set- 
tlers. 

310. Whence the name of this state? 

Kentucky signifies — according to the best authorities — "at 
the head of the river." 

311. When was Tennessee admitted? 

In 1796; the country had been a part of North Carolina, but 
had been ceded, in 1790, to the federal government and formed 
into the Southwest Territory. 

312. Whence the name of this state? 

From its principal river, called by the Indians, "Tennessee — 
the river with the big bend." 

3 3. Give an account of the Indian war. 

In 1790 the Indians began to attack the settlements in Ohio. 
A force sent out under Gen. Harmar was repulsed and failed 
to bring the enemy to terms. Another sent out under Gen. 
St. Clair in 1791, met even a worse fate, being surprised and 
defeated near the headwaters of the Wabash river. The In- 
dians demanded as the price of peace the perpetual exclusion 
of settlers from Ohio and the Northwest. Their defeat by Gen. 
Anthony Wayne in 1794, — near the present city of Toledo — 
so far subdued them that they consented to yield the territory 
now included in Ohio. 

314. What was the "whisky insurrection?" 

The settlers in Western Pennsylvania and Virginia resented 
the tax levied upon the manufacture of whisky by the federal 
government, and in 1794 their resistance to the law became so 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



63 



marked that a small army of militia was sent to Pittsburgh to 
restore order. 

315. What contributed to the general prosperity of the coun- 
try?* 

The establishment of a better system of currency, based on a 
national bank, and the invention of the cotton gin, which add- 
ed a new source of income to agriculture in the southern 
states. 

316. If the national bank was a good thing, why was it op- 
posed ? 

That the currency system of which it was a part proved 
beneficial, is admitted, but there were good arguments against 
(1) the constitutionality of the measure and (2) its expediency 
— since a stable currency might have been otherwise sup- 
plied. 

317. What was the cotton gin and what did it do for agricul- 
ture in the southern states? 

It resembled a series of circular saws, so operating that the 
teeth caught the cotton fiber and drew it between parallel wires, 
leaving the seeds behind. Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, 
it added 200 per cent to the efficiency of labor in cleaning cot- 
ton, and made cotton raising at once enormously profitable. 

318. What was the course of partisan politics during this ad- 
ministration ? 

The adoption of the constitution had virtually put an end to 
the Anti-federalists. The administration of Washington was 
signalized by the rise of a party in opposition to the Federal- 
ists, that disclaimed all connection with the opposers of 
the union. The Democratic Republicans, as they called 
themselves, professed devoted attachment to the union and the 
constitution,but opposed the financial policy of the treasury,the 
tendency toward centralization of power, and denounced Ham- 
ilton, John Adams and others as secretly in favor of a mon- 
archy . 

319. What was the objection to the financial policy of the 
treasury ? 

The new party criticised the assumption of the state debts 
and especially the mode of assumption which, it was alleged, 
greatly increased the burden of financial indebtedness, and 
was, moreover, an entirely gratuitous concession to the "mon- 
ey-power" or creditor class. The funding of the debt in long. 



64 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



time bonds that would probably be sold abroad was also cen- 
sured (the arguments of the Republicans resembling those 
advanced by the Greenback party of our day). 

320. What can you say of the charge of tendency toward 
centralization and aristocracy? 

There was some ground for the charge, but there is reason 
to doubt the extent of the predilection attributed to the Fed- 
eralist leaders. Hamilton and Adams were both openly in fa- 
vor of a strong national government to be endowed with pow- 
ers not yet entrusted to it. They were also favorably disposed 
toward the principle of aristocracy, and Hamilton, at least, in 
early life, made no secret of his preference for a- monarchy. 
Had there been a popular candidate for the throne, the charge 
brought against the Federalists might have had justification. 

321. To which party did Washington belong? 
Washington was claimed by the Federalists, with whom he 

undoubtedly sympathized, but he endeavored to be neutral 
and to retain the confidence and approval of both parties. 

322. What breach occurred in his cabinet? 

Hamilton and Knox, secretaries of the treasury and of war 
respectively, were leaders of the Federalists. Jefferson and 
Randolph, the secretary of state and attorney general, early 
joined the Republicans and were soon recognized as leaders of 
their party. This breach led in 1793 to Jefferson's resignation 
of the office of secretary of state. Randolph took the vacant 
position, and Wm. Bradford, of Pennsylvania, became attorney 
general. 

323. Did these parties oppose each other in the second pres- 
idential election ? 

No; the Republicans sought the re-election of Washington. 
Jefferson urged the president to seek a second and even a third 
election, avowedly to check the growing power of Hamilton 
and his friends. 

324. Who was the second president of the United States? 
John Adams, of Massachusetts. 

325. Who was Mr. Adams? 

He had been a political leader since the beginning of the 
revolution. He had served as minister to Great Britain and 
the Netherlands, and had twice proved the second choice of 
the electors for president. It was only natural that when 
Washington refused a third term, the Federalist vote should 
be cast for Adams. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



65 



326. For whom did the Republican electors vote? 

For Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, and he, standing second 
to Adams in the poll of the electors, became vice-president. 

327. With what had the Republicans to contend? 

With the odium excited by the excesses of the French revo- 
lution and the conduct of the revolutionary government to- 
ward America. The party had openly applauded the rising of 
the French people against the monarchy, and found itself dis- 
credited by the behavior of the revolutionists. 

328. On the other hand, with what did the Federalists con- 
tend? 

With the popular dissatisfaction aroused by Jay's treaty 
with England. This treaty, 'signed in 1795, secured the evacu- 
ation of the military posts in the northwest, and also the pay- 
ment of certain claims of American citizens, but it made num- 
erous concessions to England and was therefore very distaste- 
ful to the people of America. The action of the president and 
senate in ratifying the treaty, in the face of popular disapprov- 
al, gave great offense. 



CHAPTER VI — ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 

329. How long was John Adams president? 
From 1797 to 1801, one term only. 

330. What were the chief events of this administration? 
The existence for a few months of a state of war with France ; 

the passage of the alien and sedition laws and the opposition 
thereto; the death of Washington; the removal of the nation- 
al capital to Washington city, and the political defeat of the 
Federalists in the national election of 1800. 

331. What was the cause of trouble with France? 

The trouble began during Washington's administration. The 
revolutionary government in France expected help from the 
United States in its war with England. The British navy con- 
trolled the seas and blockaded the ports of France, but the 
people of that country hoped to use American ports in fitting 
out privateers to prey upon British commerce. This our gov- 
ernment refused to allow. 

332. Had France any right to expect such a privilege? 
Yes; we were united to France in an offensive and defensive 



66 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



alliance. France had come to our rescue in the revolutionary 
war and we had bound ourselves to return the favor. 

333. On what plea did our government withdraw from its 
obligations? 

On the plea that the change in the government of France 
altered the conditions of the agreement. It seemed inexpedient 
to risk American ships and cargoes by joining in the war 
against Great Britain, the undoubted mistress of the seas. 
Hence a proclamation of neutrality was issued. 

334. What did France do ? 

France sent over a special ambassador, M. Genet, to carry 
out her scheme of war from America. 

335. Was this ambassador received? 

Yes; but he was informed that he would not be allowed to 
carry out his plans. Genet was unruly and insolent, and after 
bearing with him for nearly a year, Washington asked his recall. 

336. What effect did this have? 

It caused a rupture of our friendly relations with France,and 
that country took additional offense at Jay's treaty with Eng- 
land. James Monroe was sent over to adjust matters, but failed 
to do so. Chas. C. Pinckney was sent over, but with no better 
result. The French government began to order the seizure of 
American cargoes on flimsy pretexts, and to make laws which 
rendered American commerce with France both difficult and 
dangerous. 

337. Was war declared ? 

War with France was not declared, but a state of war with 
that country existed during the latter half of the year 1798. 
Congress met, abolished the treaties with France, formed an 
army and increased the navy. French vessels were attacked 
and a number of them were captured. 

338. What was the conclusion? 

In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, who had seized the control of 
the French government, offered to make peace upon terms 
which the United States eagerly accepted. 

339. What national song was published during this war? 
"Hail Columbia." This song was written by Joseph Hop- 

kinson in the spring of 1798, to be sung in a Philadelphia the- 
ater. It was suited to the "President's March," a popular piece 
of music composed in honor of Washington, shortly after his 
first inauguration. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



6 7 



340. What was the Alien act? 

There were several acts relating to aliens passed in 1798, but 
one only is generally known by that name. It provided that 
for two years the president should have power to order out of 
the country all such foreigners as he might judge dangerous 
to the peace and safety of the United States, or suspected to be 
engaged in any treasonable or secret machinations. 

341. Was this act put into effect? 

No; its passage frightened several French emissaries out of 
the country, but the president never saw fit to exercise the 
power entrusted to him. 

342. By whom and why was the act denounced? 

By the Republicans, as an unconstitutional interference with 
the right of the states to admit (prior to 1808) such persons as 
they saw fit, and as a denial of the individual right to trial by 
jury. 

343. What was the Sedition law? 

An act passed in the summer of 1798, which made it a high 
misdemeanor to combine or conspire to oppose any measures 
of the government, or to print "false, scandalous and malicious 
writings" against the government or the members or depart- 
ments thereof, with the intent to bring into contempt or disre- 
pute, or to excite resistance to the laws or encourage the de- 
signs of any hostile nation. The act was a temporary one, to 
continue in force only until March, 1801. 

344. How was the act regarded by the people? 

The Federalists applauded it,but the Republicans denounced 
it as a step toward tyranny as well as a usurpation on the part 
of the federal government. The general opinion sided with 
the Republicans, and the Federalist party was overwhelmingly 
defeated in the next election. (The first man convicted under 
the sedition law was Matthew Lyon, a member of congress, 
and he was re-elected while still in jail, by an overwhelming 
majority.) 

345. How did vice-president Jefferson regard the course of 
the government? 

His private correspondence shows him to have been very 
bold in his denunciation of the Federalist administration. He 
said that "while our state governments are the very best in the 
world, our general government has, in the rapid course of nine 



68 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



or ten years, become more arbitrary and has swallowed up 
more of popular liberty than even that of England." 

346. What countermove did he propose? 

He made the original draft of the "Kentucky resolutions,' 7 
of 1798, and aided and abetted the introduction of similar reso- 
lutions in the Virginia legislature in 1798. 

347. Give the gist of the Virginia resolutions. 

These resolutions (drafted by Madison,) were based on the 
premise that the federal government was created by a compact 
of the states, and held that in case the said government should 
attempt "a deliberate, palpable and dangerous exercise of other 
powers not granted" by the constitution, it is the right and 
duty of the states to interpose for correcting the progress of 
the evil and maintaining the rights cf the states. The Alien 
and Sedition laws were declared "palpable and alarming in- 
fractions of the constitution," and in the original draft of the 
resolutions were proclaimed "null, void and of no effect." (The 
last clause was stricken out before passage.) 

348. What was the purport of the Kentucky resolutions? 
They were based on the same view of the federal compact as 

that taken in the Virginia resolutions, and like them denied 
the power of congress to pass certain specified laws. Like 
them, too, they were modified previous to their passage, so 
that instead of insisting on the right of the state to nullify un- 
constitutional laws, they simply called upon congress to repeal 
the obnoxious acts. 

349. How were these resolutions regarded by the public? 
With disfavor, as likely to bring the state governments into 

collision with the federal authority. The resolutions were 
never laid before congress, and though sent to the legislatures 
of the several states, they were acted upon by none of them. 

350. When did Washington die? 
He died suddenly Dec. 14, 1799. 

351. When was the national capital removed to its present 
site ? 

It was removed in 1S00 from Philadelphia to Washington, 
the latter then a straggling village in the woods on the banks 
of the Potomac river. 

352. What was the electoral vote for president in 1800? 
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, the Republican candi- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



6 9 



dates, received 73 votes each. John Adams and C. C. Pinck- 
ney, Federalists, received 65 and 64 votes respectively 

353- Was this defeat of the Federalists unexpected? 

No; though the party had retained a majority in congress, 
it was known to be unpopular and was divided into factions by 
the jealousy of the party leaders. 

354. How were the electors chosen? 

In most cases by districts, that being the fairest way, if all 
parties in all the states would agree to it. In Virginia the 
choice was by the people on a general ticket and the entire 
electoral vote was given to the Republicans. In Massachusetts 
and South Carolina the legislatures chose the electors (all Re- 
publican),and the Pennsylvania legislature — after some wrang- 
ling between the Federalist Senate and the Republican house — 
also made choice of the state's electors, seven of whom were 
named by the upper house and eight by the lower. The other 
states, voting by districts, divided their vote between the parties. 

355. Since the votes for Jefferson and Burr were equal, how 
was the matter settled? 

According to the constitution, the choice was made by the 
federal house of representatives, voting by states. After a 
long wrangle in which the Federalists generally supported Burr 
the choice fell upon Jefferson, who became president. (Burr, 
of course,being the second choice, became vice-president.) 

356. Consequent upon this election, what change was made 
in the constitution ? 

In consequence of the difficulties of this election, the twelfth 
constitutional amendment was adopted in 1804. It changed 
the manner of electing the president and vice-president,, 
so that instead of voting for two candidates for the former office 
each elector indicated his choice for president and also, on a 
separate ballot, for vice-president. As before, the choice was 
left to the house of representatives whenever, from any cause, 
no valid election was made by the electors. 



chapter vii. — Jefferson's administration. 

357. Who was the third president of the United States? 

Thomas Jefferson. He was one of the most eminent Ameri- 
cans of the revolutionary period, and though he wrote little for 
publication and made very few public addresses, no writer or 
speaker ever more potently governed his party. He had held 



7° 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



high offices- under Federal rule and his action in organizing 
the Republican party was the promotion of political principles, 
not the furtherance of personal ambitions; yet few men can 
have had their ambitions more thoroughly satisfied. 

358. What were his political principles? 

Chief among them was a belief in the freedom of the people, 
individually and collectively. The following memorable utter- 
ance — taken from his inaugural address — well expresses his 
idea: "If there be any among us who would wish to dis- 
solve the union, or to change its republican form, let them 
stand, undisturbed, as monuments of the safety with which 
error of opinion may be tolerated, where reason is left free to 
combat it." 

359. How long was Jefferson president? 

Eight years, being re-elected in 1804 for a second term. 

360. What were the chief events of Jefferson's first 
term ? 

The war with Tripoli, the admission of Ohio as a state, the 
purchase of Louisiana and the exploration of Oregon. 

361. What led to the war with Tripoli? 

The United States, following the practice of more powerful 
European states, had purchased peace with the piratical states 
of Northern Africa by giving presents, often sums of money, 
which the Barbary states accepted as tribute. The bey of 
Tripoli, believing that he had received less than the dey of Al- 
giers, demanded a second payment, and when it was refused, 
declared war on American commerce. Tunis, Algiers and 
Morocco showed signs of hostility, demanding additional pres- 
ents. 

362. How was the war with Tripoli carried on? 

The Tripolitan cruisers attacked American merchant vessels 
in the Mediterranean sea and on the coast of Spain, and the 
United States navy was sent to pursue and capture them and 
to attack the seaport of Tripoli. Superior skill and valor made 
the American seamen more than a match for the pirates, and 
in 1805 Tripoli yielded and engaged to keep the peace. The 
European nations, encouraged by our example, refused tribute 
to the Barbary states, and forced them to desist from piracy. 

363. Under what circumstances did an American ship first 
reach Constantinople? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY, 



71 



Just before the beginning of the Tripolitan Avar (in 1800), 
Captain Bainbridge of the frigate George Washington, in vis- 
iting Algiers to pay the customary tribute, was pressed into the 
dey's service to convey an ambassador to the porte. The in- 
troduction, though occurring in circumstances so humiliating, 
led to the establishment of friendly relations with the sultan. 

364. When was the state of Ohio admitted? 

In 1802. This territory was taken from the Northwest Ter- 
ritory, organized under the ordinance of 1787. Its first Ameri- 
can settlement was at Marietta, and Losantiville (Cincinnati) 
in j 788, Its name was taken from that of its principal river. 

365. How was the territory of Louisiana acquired? 

By purchase, in 1803, from France, Spain having ceded it to 
Napoleon in 1800. Napoleon had, after his accession to power, 
made peace with the United States, a peace which his acquisi- 
tion of New Orleans threatened to disturb. Moreover, Eng- 
land, all-powerful on the seas, might at any time seize the ter- 
ritory. Napoleon, therefore, bargained to sell it for $15,000,000. 

366. How was this payment made to France? 

Six per cent bonds of the United States (payable in fifteen 
years) to the amount of $1 1,250,000 were given, and the bal- 
ance was held subject to order for the payment of American 
claims against France. 

367. Was Jefferson consistent in making this purchase? 

No; on the principle often urged by him, that the national 
government had no powers not specifically granted to it, he 
could not consistently advise the appropriation of money to 
purchase territory. Indeed, he saw this, and at first proposed 
a constitutional amendment to legalize the usurpation which 
he advised congress to make only because Napoleon's offer 
must be accepted at once. But congress had no scruples about 
voting the money, and the suggested amendment was never 
formulated. 

368. What was the extent of the Louisiana territory thus ac- 
quired ? 

It extended from the Gulf of Mexico to British America and 
from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and included, 
with the exception of Texas and part of Kansas, all the country 
within those boundaries. 

369. Did the province not extend to the Pacific ocean? 



7^ 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Some geographies and historians assert that it did, but the 
weight of authority is against such an extension, and our right 
to Oregon and Washington Territory is based on early explor- 
ations beginning with those of Lewis and Clarke. 

370. Who were these explorers? 

After the purchase of Louisiana, the government sent out 
an expedition to explore the upper waters of the Missouri riv- 
er and to cross the mountains to the ocean. Merriwether Lewis 
and William Clarke commanded the expedition, and in the 
course of two years and a half succeeded in accomplishing 
their work and in laying the foundation of our claim to the 
territory. 

■ 371. What memorable duel occurred in 1804? 
July 11, 1804, a duel was fought between Aaron Burr, the 
vice-president, and Alexander Hamilton, ex-secretary of the 
treasury. Hamilton was mortally wounded, and died in a few 
hours. 

372. What effect did this duel have on Burr's political ca- 
reer ? 

It simply added to the disfavor with which he was regarded. 
He had lost the confidence of the Republicans without gaining 
that of the Federalists. In any event he would not have been 
re-elected vice-president. George Clinton of New York was 
chosen to succeed him. 

573. What was the result of the presidential election of 1804? 

The re-election of Jefferson by an increased majority. In 
the electoral ballot the vote stood, Jefferson and Clinton, 162; 
Pinckney and King (the Federalist candidates), 14. 

374. What were the chief events of Jefferson's second term? 
European interference with the neutral trade of America, 

and retaliatory legislation on the part of the United States. Al- 
so Burr's expedition, Fulton's invention of the steamboat and 
the prohibition of foreign slave trade. 

375. How came European nations to interfere with the trade 
of America? 

To punish or prevent American violation of their trade reg- 
ulations- Ships trading with Hayti and San Domingo, colon- 
ies which had rebelled against France and Spain, were subject 
to attack by French and Spanish cruisers. England was at 
war with the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, and desired to 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



73 



crush out the trade between that empire and its American col- 
onies. The United States, as a neutral nation, claimed the 
right — under the rule of war of 1756 — to traffic with all powers 
unmolested, and under cover of this right,engaged in the profit- 
able business of importing from the colonies and exporting to 
Europe. This England declared an evasion of the rules of war, 

376. What action did England take? 

She declared a blockade (in 1806), of the ports of France 
and her allies, and forbade the vessels of neutral nations' en- 
tering such ports under penalty of seizure. 

377. How did Napoleon retaliate? 

He issued (from Berlin) a decree proclaiming a similar block- 
ade of British ports. 

378. How was the blockade continued? 

The next year Great Britain, by orders in council, imposed 
further regulations on American vessels and ordered the cap- 
ture and confiscation of any vessel attempting to disobey or 
evade them. Napoleon issued a second decree (from Milan, 
Italy) ordering the capture and sale of all American vessels 
which had (in compliance with British regulations) entered 
British ports. By these rival nations, therefore, all trade with 
Europe was forbidden. 

379. What further cause had America for complaint? 

The continued exercise by England of her (alleged) right of 
search and impressment. England had long claimed the right 
to search foreign vessels for contraband goods in war time and 
on general principles in time of peace. She had the legal right 
to force sailors on her merchant vessels to join her navy, and 
on the theory that none of England's subjects could transfer 
their^ allegiance, British captains often pressed sailors from 
the crews of American vessels, selecting those who, from their 
dialect or appearance, seemed to be natives of Great Britain. 
The English government upheld the action of her naval com- 
manders, being, of course, ready to apologize if they made the 
mistake (as they often did) of pressing native Americans. 

380. What was the objection of the United States to this 
course ? 

She denied the right of search, except in case of vessels pass- 
ing a blockade. She maintained the right of citizens of any- 
(European) country to become, by naturalization, citizens of 



74 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



the United States, and asserted her own right to protect such 
citizens equally with those who had been born in America. 

381. What was the case of the Leopard and Chesapeake? 
In 1807, the British frigate Leopard searched the United 

States frigate Chesapeake, off our own coasts, and impressed 
four seamen, three of whom were natives of America, The 
affair nearly led to a war. 

382. Why was war not declared? 

There was a strong feeling in favor of war, but it was con- 
fined to those states chiefly interested in foreign commerce. 
The navy was in no condition for war, and could scarcely de- 
fend our own coasts. Some feeble efforts were made to improve 
it, but the main reliance was placed on retaliatory legislation. 

383. What was the nature of this legislation ? 

It began with the Embargo Act of 1807. This piece of folly 
— as it is now generally characterized — forbade the departure 
of American vessels from American ports. The theory of the 
president, who recommended the bill, was that a refusal to ship 
goods to Europe would be immediately felt by England 
and France, and induce them to modify their regulations. In 
the congress, too, there was a strong faction opposed to foreign 
trade as likely to lead us into war, and this assisted in the pas- 
sage of the bill. 

384. What was the effect of the embargo? 

It offended England and France, of course, but as it left all 
the carrying-trade to British vessels, it did not seem to be do- 
ing England much harm. Napoleon cared little for it. In 
America, it proved a great hardship to sailors and merchants, 
and many attempts were made to evade it. 

385. How long did the law continue? 

Until 1809, when it was repealed, and the non-intercourse 
law — forbidding trade with England and France— substituted 
for it. This change gave a little relief, especially as the new 
law could not be readily enforced, but both laws did great 
damage to America. 

386. What was Burr's Mississippi valley conspiracy? 
Aaron Burr, after the expiration of his term as vice-president 

in March, 1805, began to plot a revolution in the southwest, 
by which the territories of the Mississippi Valley were to be 
detached from the union and organized as a separate republic. 
He also proposed to free Mexico from Spanish rule and estab- 
lish it as an independent kingdom. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



75 



387. What progress did he make in this plot? 

He journeyed down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and 
spent two years in traveling about in the west, cultivating the 
acquaintance of prominent men and secretly enlisting those 
whom he thought favorably disposed. Having thus organized 
his forces, he was nearly ready to openly rebel against the 
authority of the United States, when he was arrested on the 
charge of treason and his followers dispersed. 

388. What was the conclusion of the matter? 

Burr himself was tried at Richmond for treason under an 
indictment found against him by the grand jury for the district 
of Virginia. He was acquitted,never having waged war against 
the United States, though there was little doubt of his intention 
to do so. 

389. When and by whom was the first successful steamboat 
constructed? 

In 1807, by Robert Fulton. Fulton's first boat, the Cler- 
mont, began the navigation of the Hudson from New 
York to Albany, in September, 1807. Steam had been used 
to propel vessels before this, but with ill success, owing tr? de- 
fective machinery. 

390. When was the importation of slaves forbidden? 

By a bill passed in 1807 the importation of slaves was pro- 
hibited after the 1st of January following. This was the ear- 
liest date at which the constitution permitted the restriction of 
the slave trade, (see Art. I, sec. 9,) and the law was strongly 
opposed as hostile to the interests of the slave states. 

391. What was the result of the presidential election of 1808? 
The choice of James Madison of Virginia for president, and 

George Clinton of New York for vice-president. There were 
three candidates for the presidency, Madison, Clinton and 
James Monroe, all Republicans, the Federals casting their vote 
for C. C. Pinckney and Rufus King. Clinton was named by 
congressional caucus for the vice- presidency, but his friends 
still continued to urge his election as chief magistrate. The 
electoral vote stood: For president, Madison, 123; Clinton, 6; 
Pinckney ,47; For vice-president,Clinton f 113; Monroe,6; Lang- 
don, 10; King, 47. 



7 6 



THE LAND WE LIVE TN. 



CHAPTER VIII. — MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

392. How long was Madison president? 
Eight years; from 1809 to 1817. 

393. What was the chief event of this period? 

The war with Great Britain, generally known as the war of 
1812. 

394. What causes led to this war? 

The overbearing conduct of Great Britain in enforcing her 
Orders in Council, forbidding trade with France and her allies. 
Napoleon had (falsely) announced the revocation of the Ber- 
lin, decree, and hence the American non-intercourse law, just 
re-enacted by congress, was directed against Great Britain. 
This aroused her enmity, and her war vessels were allowed to 
capture American merchantmen anywhere on the high seas. 

395. What was the affair of the President and Little Belt? 

In 181 1 , the United States frigate President hailed the Brit- 
ish war vessel Little Belt, off Cape Charles, and was answered 
by a cannon shot. In the fight that followed, the British ves- 
sel was badly beaten. 

396. When was war declared? 

June 18, 181 2, congress declared war,-*in deference to popular 
clamor, though the country was ill prepared to attack so pow- 
erful a country as Great Britain. 

397. What was the comparative naval strength of the two 
countries ? 

The British navy numbered about 1000 vessels, many of 
them the most powerful war ressels afloat. The American 
navy consisted of twelve men-of-war and a number of small 
vessels dignified by the name of gunboats. 

398. What was the comparative population and military 
strength of the two countries? 

The people of the United States numbered about seven and 
a half millions. The American people were poor and scattered 
over a wide expanse of territory. The British were, it is true, 
exhausted by their long-continued war w r ith France, which still 
engaged their attention, but their martial spirit was aroused 
and they were prepared for war. The Americans were not 
prepared for war, as the party in power was opposed to a stand- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



77 



ing army. Another drawback was the hostility of the Indian 
tribes in the northwest, against whom an army had been sent 
under Gen. W. H. Harrison. 

399. What was the chief battle in this Indian war? 

The battle at Tippecanoe (near Lafayette, Ind.,) fought Nov. 
7, 181 1. The Indians were led by Tecumseh, and the whites 
by Harrison. The result was a complete defeat of the red men. 

400. What was the general course of the war with England? 
It consisted of military attacks on the British colonies in 

Canada, and naval attacks on British shipping on the sea. In 
retaliating, Great Britain attacked the Atlantic coast and New 
Orleans, then the only town of consequence on the gulf of 
Mexico. 

401. Describe the first movements against Canada. 

First came Gen. Hull's attack from Detroit. He was beat- 
en back, and forced to surrender Detroit and the whole north- 
west territory. Gen. Harrison was sent to reconquer the coun- 
try, but at first accomplished but little. Gen. Dearborn, and 
after him Gen. Wilkinson, attacked Canada by crossing the 
Niagara river, but these attacks were beaten off, so that, gen- 
erally speaking, the American armies suffered defeat during 
the first two years of the war. 

402. How had the navy fared? 

Much better. In six months after war was declared, the lit- 
1 le American navy had captured five British men-of-war, and 
never lost a battle. Other victories followed in 181 3, so that 
the British began to be cautious, reinforcing their navy to block- 
ade our ports without seeking conflict, except under favorable 
circumstances. The Americans lost three vessels, the Chesa- 
peake, Argus and Essex, in this year. Other ships of war were 
lost by the Americans before peace was declared, but these 
were the only ones lost in equal fight. 

40}. What was the comparative loss at sea during the entire 
war ? 

Including all vessels taken, both by the regular navy and 
by privateers, the loss on each side numbered 1,700. Consid- 
ering the value of the ships and cargoes, the British loss was 
the greatest. (No other nation had succeeded in inflicting 
equal losses in a naval war with Great Britain, but it must be re- 
membered that British shipping was to be found nearly every 
where, while that of the Americans had been almost driven 
from the seas.) 



7 8 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



404. Meanwhile, what success had attended the war on the 
Canadian border? 

Two noteworthy battles were fought on the lakes, in both of 
which the Americans were successful. The army in Western 
New York, reorganized under new commanders, again crossed 
the Niagara and won some small victories. 

405. How had the Atlantic coast fared during the war? 
The coast towns had suffered greatly from the attacks of the 

British fleet. In August, 1814, the city of Washington was 
taken and the public buildings burned. 

406. What led to the British attack on New Orleans? 

The establishment of peace in Europe. Napoleon being com- 
pelled to retire to the island of Elba, England turned her forces 
upon America, and an army of 12,000 was sent to New Orleans. 

407. What was the result of the expedition ? 

A disastrous defeat for the British at the battle of New 
Orleans Jan. 8, 1815. In an attack on Gen. Jackson's entrench- 
ments, held by some 6,000 undisciplined troops, the British 
lost their commander and 2,500 men. The American loss was 
but 8 killed and 13 wounded. 

408. When was peace made? 

Peace had, as it happened, been agreed upon before the bat- 
tle of New Orleans was fought. Dec, 24, 1814, a treaty of 
peace was drawn up at Ghent, Belgium. This was duly rati- 
fied and the war closed. 

409. What was noteworthy about this treaty? 

That it ignored the causes of the war. Great Britain tacitly 
withdrew from her arrogant position, her "orders in council" 
were allowed to lapse,and the right of search and impressment 
was never again claimed. 

410. What Indian tribes had given trouble during the war 
with England? 

The Creeks in the southwest territory. They were finally 
defeated by Gen. Jackson at the battle of Horseshoe Bend (Ala.), 
March 27, 1814. 

411. How had the war of 181 2 affected the American peo- 
ple? 

It had caused great distress by destroying foreign and home 
trade. The people of New England were especially disturbed 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



79 



and they became greatly dissatisfied with the national admin- 
istration. 

412. What was the Hartford convention ? 

A meeting called by the Federalists to discuss the condition 
of affairs. It met at Hartford, Conn., Dec. 15, 1814. The ses- 
sions were held in secret, but it is known that it discussed se- 
cession from the union. It published a proposal that New 
England defend her coasts in the war independent of the ac- 
tion of the federal government. 

4 3. What was our national debt after the war of 181 2? 

About $127,000,000, of which $8o,ooo ( ooo represented the 
cost of the war. 

414. What war followed that with England? 

In 181 5 the United States sent a fleet, under Commodore 
Decatur, to demand satisfaction from Algiers, for acts of war 
during our contest with England. The dey of Algiers was 
forced to pay for American ships illegally seized, and to en- 
gage to keep the peace without demanding tribute. Similar 
treaties were forced on the piratical states of Tripoli and Tunis. 

415. What states were admitted during Madison's adminis- 
tration ? 

Louisiana in 181 2, and Indiana in 1816. 

416. What was the previous history of Louisiana? 
Louisiana was first visited by La Salle in 1691. Settlements 

were soon after made by the French, who claimed the territory 
and held it till 1762, when they ceded it to Spain. In 1800 it 
was retroceded to France and soon after sold to the United 
States. 

417. Whence the name of this state? 

The name was given in 171 2 by Louis XIV of France in 
honor of himself. The entire country ceded to us by France, 
was at first called Louisiana Territory, but by act of congress 
the name was in 18 1 2 confined to the state, the remainder of 
the French cession being styled Missouri Territory. 

418. What objection was made to the admission of Louisi- 
ana ? 

Some people held that there was no authority granted to the 
federal government to admit states formed from territory ac- 
quired since the adoption of the constitution. By Josiah 
Quincy, speaking for the New England states, the admission 



So 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



was declared ''virtually a dissolution of the union." "It will 
free the states from their moral obligation," he added, "and as 
it will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of some, defin- 
itely to prepare for a separation, amicably if they can, violent- 
ly if they must." (This was the flrst enunciation of the doc- 
trine of secession.) 

419. What of the state of Indiana? 

Indiana was the second of the five states carved out of the 
old Northwest Territory, the battle ground between English 
and French, and Americans and English, to say nothing of the 
wars with Indian tribes. The country was settled chiefly by 
emigrants from the Eastern and Middle States, and its white 
inhabitants numbered something over 25,000 when it was or- 
ganized as a 'state. 

420. What was the result of the presidential election of 181 2? 
The electoral vote stood: For president, James Madison, 128; 

De Witt Clinton (of New York), 89. For vice-president, El- 
bridge Gerry, (of Massachusetts), 131; Jared Ingersoll (of 
Pennsylvania), 86. The Federalists cast their votes for Clinton, 
a Republican, who was put up as a protest against the 
congressional caucus that nominated Madison. 

421. What of the election of 1816? 

James Monroe of Virginia, and Daniel D. Tompkins of New 
York were chosen president and vice-president, receiving 183 
of the 227 electoral votes cast. The remaining 34 votes, repre- 
senting the strength of the opposition, were given to Rufus 
King, of New York (Federalist) for president and scattered 
among various candidates for the vice-presidency. 

422. Give some account of the successful candidates. 
James Monroe was a captain in the revolutionary war, and 

also served for a time as a member of the continental congress. 
He was elected senator after the adoption of the constitution, 
but was soon sent abroad as minister to France, England and 
Spain. Returning in 1818, he was elected governor of Virgin- 
ia. He was secretary of state in Madison's cabinet. Daniel 
D. Tompkins had become famous as governor of New York 
during the war of 181 2. 



chapter ix. — monroe's administration. 

423. How long was Monroe president 5 
Eight years; from 1817 to 1825. 

424. What were the chief events of this administration? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY, 



8l 



The establishment of what was known as the "era of good 
feeling" in politics, and the Missouri compromise on the sub- 
ject of the extension of slavery. The beginning of internal 
improvements by the federal government and the adoption of 
a protective tariff; the purchase of Florida, the enunciation of 
the "Monroe doctrine," and the admission of five states into 
the union. 

425. What was the "era of good feeling"? 

The dissolution of the Federal party left but one political 
organization in the field, the Republican, or, as it now began 
to be called, the Democratic party. There was a noteworthy 
lull in party strife, which earned for this administration the 
name of the "era of good feeling." 

426. How did this good feeling appear in the election of 
1820? 

There was no opposition to the re-election of Monroe and 
Tompkins, and they received the all but unanimous vote of 
the electoral colleges. 

427. How long did this era last? 

Till the rise of the slavery question, first broached in the 
proposal to admit the state of Missouri. 

428. How did the question present itself? 

The new states of the south had been admitted as slave states 
but slavery had, by the ordinance of 1797, been kept out of the 
country north of the Ohio. Louisiana was a slave state when 
admitted ; Missouri also had slaves and proposed to keep them. 
To this the northern states (now almost entirely free) objected, 
and emphasized their objection by voting against the admission 
of the state. 

429. How was the matter settled? 

By the "Missouri Compromise," arranged mainly by Henry 
Clay. The new state was admitted, but slavery was thereafter 
to be excluded from the territory north of the parallel 36 deg. 
30 min., which forms the southern boundary of Missouri. 

430. What was the question with regard to internal im- 
provements? 

It was held by many that congress had no right to appro- 
priate money for internal improvements. Madison vetoed 
such an appropriation as unconstitutional. Congress, however, 
had already voted money to build or repair roads and bridges 



82 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



and such appropriations continued to be made. A national 
road, for the use of emigrants, was laid out from Cumberland, 
Md., to the state of Indiana. Money was also voted for the 
improvement of the navigation of rivers and for the construc- 
tion of canals. 

431. What were the states doing to increase transportation 
facilities? 

Some of the states were making great efforts. New York, 
for instance, began the Erie canal in 1S17 and finished it in 
1825. 

432 What w as the first tariff imposed in the United States 
and how long did it last? 

The first customs tariff was that arranged by Alexander 
Hamilton in 17S9 It lasted until 1816. 

433- What then took its place? 

The "Calhoun tariff," so called from its promoter, John C. 
Calhoun. It lasted until 1824. 

434. How did it differ from the Hamilton tariff? 

It increased the average duties from 12 percent to over 24 
per cent, and was, moreover, strongly protective in its arrange- 
ment. (Still, Calhoun afterward became noted as the cham- 
pion of free trade.) 

435. What condition of things led to the introduction of the 
protective principle? 

The embargo and non-intercourse laws, followed by the war 
of 1 81 2, had kept out foreign goods and stimulated many Am- 
erican manufactures. When peace came, the persons engaged 
in these manufactures felt the decline in prices and clamored 
for a protective tariff. 

436. Were they satisfied with the Calhoun tariff? 

No; they still petitioned congress, and in 1824 a third tariff 
was established. The average of duties was 32^ per cent and 
the whole system was designed to protect American industries. 

437. What were our troubles with Florida at this time? 
After the close of the war with Great Britain, the Seminole 

Indians of Florida, aided by the Spaniards, kept up a war 
with the settlers of Georgia and Alabama. Gen. Jackson, 
who was sent against them, invaded Florida and seized the 
city of Pensacola. Spain protested, and the city was given 
back to her. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



83 



438. How was the matter settled ? 

By the purchase of Florida Territory from Spain for $5- 
000,000. The treaty was made in 1819, hut not ratified till 
1 821. 

439. What was the "Monroe doctrine" put forth about this 
time ? 

In view of the attempt by Spain and other European coun- 
tries to reconquer the former Spanish- American colonies of 
South America, President Monroe in a message to congress 
declared that the attempt by any European nation to reduce an 
independent nation of North or South America to the condition 
of a colony could not be "viewed with indifference " The 
doctrine that America belonged to Americans and must be 
free from European interference, was generally applauded and 
became a part of the foreign policy of the government. 

440 What states were admitted during this administration? 
Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine and Missouri. 

441. What was Mississippi previous to its admission as a 
state ? 

It was at first a part of Georgia, but the territory was ceded 
to the federal government in 1802. It had in 1810 over 40- 
000 inhabitants, mostly emigrants from the slave states. It was 
admitted in 181 7 with a. constitution authorizing slavery. 

442. Whence the name of this state ? 

From the river Mississippi. The name, given by the Indians, 
signifies, "The father of waters." 

443 Whai year was Illinois admitted ? 

In 1818, Illinois was formed from the old Northwest Terri- 
tory. It had only about 12,000 settlers in 1810 and wnly one 
town of importance, the old French fort of Peoria. 

444. Whence did Illinois derive its name ? 

From Illini — "Tribe of Men" — the name of an Indian tribe> 

445. When was Alabama admitted ? 

In 18 9. Like Mississippi, Alabama was formed from the 
territory ceded by Georgia. The southern part was also claimed 
by the Spaniards of Florida and the French of Louisiana. 
Mobile was founded by the French. 

446. What does the name of the state signify ? 
It is an Indian word meaning "Here we rest." 



84 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



447. When was Maine admitted ? 

In 1820. Maine had long been a part of Massachusetts, but 
that state freely assented to the separation. (The coast was 
called "main" as distinguished from the islands first settled by 
the fishermen.) 

448. When was Missouri admitted ? 

In 1821. As above stated, Missouri was admitted, as the 
result of an agreement on the slavery question. The country 
was a part of upper Louisiana and was first settled by the 
French. 

449. What was the result of the presidential election of 
1824 ? 

There was still no division into political parties, and the 
electoral vote for president was divided among four candidates 
as follows: John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, 8<j.; Andrew 
Jackson of Tennessee, 99; William H. Crawford of Georgia, 
41 ; Henry Clay of Kentucky, 37. As none of the candidates 
had received a majority, the election was left to the house of 
representatives, which elected John Quincy Adams. 

450. What was the result of the vice presidential contest ? 
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina received 183 electoral 

votes: the remaining 30 being given to Sanford of New York. 

451. "What can you say of the successful candidates ? 

John Quincy Adams was the son of John Adams,the second 
president of the United States. He had served the country as 
minister to the Netherlands, Prussia and Russia; had been 
senator from his state, and secretary of state in Monroe's cabi- 
net. Was at first a Federalist, but became* a republican before 
the war of 181 2, Calhoun had been secretary of war and sen- 
ator from his state. Both Adams and Calhoun were men of 
remarkable ability. 

CHAPTER X — JOHN Q. ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 

452. How long was John Quincy Adams president ? 
Four years; from 1825 to 1829. 

453. What can you say of this period ? 

It was comparatively uneventful, but it included the origin 
of many notable features of American history. The intro- 
duction of railways and locomotives, the beginning of the 
transportation of Indian tribes to Indian Territory, and also 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



85 



the beginning of the political struggle for and against a protec- 
tive tariff, which resulted in the formation of the Whig party. 

454. Were railways a new invention ? 

Railways, or tramways, as they were called (from the name 
of their inventor, Mr. Outram), had been used in England for 
about 200 years. The cars were drawn by horses. Then a 
clumsy steam locomotive was invented and one or two put in 
use in 1825. In 1828, a trial was made with one on a Penn- 
sylvania railway near Mauch Chunk. Finally, George 
Stephenson, in 1829, exhibited the first really successful loco- 
motive, and gave an impetus to railroad making both in Eng- 
land and America. 

455. What was the Indian question at this time ? 

The Indian question, as far as the national government was 
concerned, was how to satisfy the demands of the whites with- 
out actually robbing the Indians. The tribes had been deprived 
of their hunting grounds partly by a war and partly by pur- 
chase, so that many of them had already been driven beyond 
the Mississippi. In the north, Wisconsin still belonged to the red 
men, and there were reservations in the states where parts of 
tribes still lived. In the south, the Creeks and Choctaws, con- 
quered in war, had sold their lands and agreed to move to the 
western territories. With these a number of the Cherokees 
cast their lot, but most of the tribe still held their lands in 
Georgia and Alabama, refusing to sell or exchange. 

456. What was the condition of the Cherokees ? 

They were intelligent and educated. They had churches, 
and schools of their own, and a newspaper was published in 
their language. They were rapidly becoming civilized, though 
they still retained their tribal organization. 

457. What troible had arisen between the Cherokees and 
the Georgians ? 

The settlers wanted the Indian lands, and the state of Geor- 
gia demanded that the Cherokees be forced to exchange them 
for lands in the west. As the federal government would not 
act, the state determined to take measures to coerce the Indians 
and, in 1827, President Adams was forced to interfere for the 
protection of the red men. 

458. What was the outcome of this matter ? 

The Georgians had their way, and the next federal adminis- 
tration, partly by force and partly by persuasion, induced the 



86 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Cherokees to remove to what is now the Indian Territory. 
(This was done in 1835.) 

459. What two ex-presidents died in this administration ? 
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died July 4, 1826. This 

was the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the declaration 
of independence, that these two men had done so much to 
bring about. 

460. What political party arose during this administration ? 
The whig party. President Adams and Henry Clay, his 

secretary of state, were warm advocates of the ''American 
system," as it was called, that had already found favor in the 
congress. This inclnded a protective tariff and federal appro- 
priations for "internal improvements," — roads, canals, rivers 
and harbors, etc, 

461. What tariff was adopted at this time ? 

The tariff of 1828, nicknamed the "tariff of abominations." 
By it the duties on imported commodities of a kind that could 
be produced in America, were considerably increased. 

462. How did this question become a sectional one ? 

The southerners, depending on slave labor, raised cotton, 
rice, etc., for export (chiefly) to Europe. Selling at European 
prices, they desired to buy manufactured goods at the same 
rates, but were forced by the tariff either to pay a tax to the 
government or a premium to northern factories. 

463. Did they then receive no benefit from the tariff ? 

Yes; the capital and labor diverted by protection into north- 
ern factories might otherwise have engaged in raising cotton 
at the south and so lowered prices. The planters, however, 
refused to see this advantage. 

464. Did they not get better prices for their produce on ac- 
count of the nearer market ? 

The protectionists assured them that they did, but the poli- 
tical economists (of the Smith-Ricardo School) assured them 
that they did not, and the planters believed the political 
economists. 

465. Who were the candidates in the presidential election of 
1828 ? 

The National Republican, or Whig party, supported Adams 
for re-election. As Vice President Calhoun had joined the op- 
position, Richard Rush of Pennsylvania, was put up for vice- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



87 



president on the Adams ticket. The anti-tariff Republicans, 
who now assumed the name of Democrats, supported Andrew 
Jackson and John C. Calhoun. 

466. What was the result? 

The election of Jackson and Calhoun, who received 178 
electoral votes to 83 for their opponents. 

467. Who was Jackson ? 

Gen. Jackson was born in North Carolina in 1767. He em- 
igrated to Tennessee, became a lawyer and was sent to con- 
gress, first as a representative and afterwards as senator. He 
also served as judge of the state supreme court. He became a 
general in the war of 181 2 and in the Indian wars of that time. 
He had been a candidate for president in 1824 and received a 
plurality — but not a majority — of the electoral vote. 

468. What was the subsequent career of President Adams? 
After his defeat in 1828, John Quincy Adams continued in 

political affairs and was elected to the lower house of congress 
in 1831. He continued a member of that body until his death 
in 1848, thus proving a striking exception among American 
ex-presidents, who have generally done no public service after 
their retirement from the office of chief magistrate. 



chapter xi — jackson's administration. 
467. How long was Jackson president? 

Eight years; from 1829 to 1837, being re-elected in 1832, for 
a second term. 

470. What was the character of this period of our country's 
history? 

It was a period of commercial prosperity and of great pro- 
gress in devoloping the resources of the country ; in politics it 
was a period of strife, caused mainly by the disposition of the 
president and his treatment of his political opponents. 

47 . What progress was made in railway building? 

Over 1,500 miles of railroad were completed during this ad- 
ministration, and a great number of new lines were begun. 

472. What improvement was made in steamboat navigation ? 

The screw propeller, to take the place of the side wheels of 
steamers, invented by John Ericsson in 1836. This made ocean 
navigation more practicable, and gave an impetus to the con- 
strue tion of steam war vessels.. 



83 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



473. When was ocean na\igation by steam begun? 

In 18 19 the Savannah, a steamer built for the purpose, crossed 
from America to England. Successful navigation of the 
ocean by steam dates from about 1838. 

474. Note some of the inventions and discoveries of this per- 
iod. 

The McCormick reaper, the Colt revolver and the brim- 
stone-tipped friction match must be counted among important 
inventions. Anthracite coal came into use in engine furnaces 
about this time and added greatly to their efficiency. 

47 5. How had the population of the United States increased ? 
Some three millions were added to it during the ten years 

from 1820 to 1S30, thus raising the total population to nearly 
1 3,000,000. Much of this was due to immigration from Europe, 
caused by the reports of the prosperity of the states. 

476. How did this affect the federal finances? 

The rapid settlement of the western states increased the de- 
mand for government lands, and the federal income from land 
sales rose from $1,000,000 to $25,000,000 a year. 

477. What disposition was made of the money? 

After the federal debt was paid off in 1S35, a surplus accum- 
ulated and was divided among the states. The party then in 
power opposed federal appropriations for public improvements, 
but it thus indirectly furnished the money for the work carried 
on by the states. 

478. In what kind of public works were the states engaged? 

In building roads, bridges and canals, and otherwise improv- 
ing transportation facilities. Most of the states also began ge- 
ological surveys about this time. The public schools, too, 
received state aid, Massachusetts establishing the normal school 
system for the training of teachers. 

479. What advance was made in literature? 

America had already a few writers in prose and verse, like 
Irving, Cooper and Bryant, but the existence of American lit- 
erature was not recognized abroad. New books by these writ- 
ers and the appearance of works by Whittier, Longfellow, 
Holmes, Hawthorne, Bancroft and Prescott, gave this country 
a standing in literature that English readers were glad to rec- 
ognize. 

480. What reforms were started during this era? 

The Wa&hingtonian movement for the diminution of drunk- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



8 9 



enness, the prison reform movement, and the agitation for the 
abolition of negro slavery. 

481. What changes were made in political affairs? 

Many and great changes were made as a consequence of Jack- 
son's election. In the first place our presidents had hitherto 
been men of breeding and education; it is noteworthy that all 
(except Washington) were men who had been selected to rep- 
resent us at European courts. Jackson was a man of great 
force of character and natural powers of mind. No man was 
ever more completely master of his party. But he was com- 
paratively uneducated, violent in manner and aggressive in 
his methods. As a consequence, he was hated and feared by 
his political opponents, and by none more heartily than the 
class that had had the administration of the federal govern- 
ment. 

482. What followed Jackson's inauguration as a consequence 
of this bitter hostility ? 

A general retirement of all officeholders who had opposed 
Jackson's election. Many resigned, refusing to serve under 
the new administration, and those who did not resign were 
dismissed without ceremony. 

483. Was this dismissal justifiable? 

No; it was "worse than a crime, it was a blunder." It was 
the treatment of political opponents as public enemies. Jack- 
son was honest and upright,and his party — who fully approved 
his course — were not demoralized by office-seeking. They sim- 
ply did, out of partisan hatred, what they would have been 
ashamed to do for personal or party advantage. 

484. Did other presidents follow Jackson's example in mak- 
ing a "clean sweep" of the public offices? 

Yes; it came to be the custom to remove officeholders, not 
only every time a new party came into power but every time 
a new president was elected. Rotation in office became not 
only an evil in itself but a source of other evils, such as the 
use of the appointing power to reward party or personal ser- 
vice, and the growth of the opinion that officeholders are ser- 
vants of the party and not of the general public. 

485. What was President Jackson's contest with the United 
States bank? 

Jackson accepted the view that the federal government had 
no constitutional right to charter a bank; he also brought 
charges against the management of the bank, and advocated 



9 o 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



investigation of the same in his messages to congress. The 
bank, he declared, was not conducted on business principles; 
loans, etc., were granted or refused from political motives, and 
the government revenues, deposited in the bank, were thus 
used against the Democratic party and to reward those public 
men who had done the bank service. The bank was then 
seeking a renewal of its charter — which expired in 1836 —and 
it was to prevent this renewal that the president attacked it 

486. Was the party with the president in thus opposing the 
bank? 

Not at first ; the bill renewing the charter was passed and 
was prevented from becoming a law only by the president's 
veto. Jackson, however, brought his party round to his stand- 
point on this question, and thereafter opposition to a federal 
bank was a party principle. 

487. In what other way did he seek to damage the bank? 
In 1833 he ordered the secretary of the treasury to withdraw 

the government funds from the bank, and deposit them in va- 
rious state banks. This was done amid great opposition. It 
crippled the bank so that though re-chartered in 18^6 by the 
state of Pennsylvania, it failed utterly in 1840, leaving nothing 
for its stockholders. 

488. How was Jackson's treatment of the bank regarded by 
his political opponents? 

As a characteristic piece of tyranny. Jackson was deter- 
mined to have his own way, and was roundly abused in con- 
sequence. The name Whig found favor with the new party, 
because they were opposed to Jackson as the "English Whigs 
had been to the tyrannical Stuarts. 

489. What part did the tariff question play in politics at this 
time ? 

A most important part. The Whigs were in favor of the 
"American system," of high protective tariff and internal im- 
provements, and with the aid of Northern Democrats had se- 
cured the passage of the tariff of 1828. President Jackson 
wps opposed to the system, and by his vetoes defeated most of 
the appropriations for public works. Calhoun, vice-president 
during Jackson's first term, was still more fiercely opposed to 
the tariff, and in his own state headed the "nullification" 
movement. 

490. What was the nullification doctrine? 

It was one of the deductions from the doctrine of state sov- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



91 



ereignty ; namely, that a state was a judge of the nature and 
extent of the rights delegated to the federal government, and 
that the declaration by a state that any measure of congress 
was unconstitutional nullified the law within the boundaries 
of that state. 

491. What attempt was made to put this doctrine into prac- 
tice ? 

In 1832 South Carolina called a convention which declared 
the tariff law null and void forbade the collection of duties at 
Charleston or any other port in the state, and threatened to 
secede if the law was enforced. 

492. How did Jackson deal with the nullifiers? 

He declared his intention to maintain the union and enforce 
the laws at all hazards. He sent a naval force to Charleston 
harbor to assist in the collection of the duties, and sent Gen. 
Scott, at the head of a military force, into the nullifying state 
to assist, if necessary, the federal officers in the discharge of 
their duties. 

493. Did the Nullifiers recede from their position? 

No; but to avoid strife, they suspended the nullification or- 
dinance till after the adjournment of congress. The adoption 
of the "compromise tariff" of 1833 was accepted as a sufficient 
concession and the nullifying ordinance was repealed. 

494. What was the effect of this compromise? 

It provided for the gradual reduction of duties till 1S42 and 
thereafter established the uniform rate of 20 per cent on the 
home valuation. (As the average of the duties levied by the 
tariff of 1828 was 43^3 per cent, this was a great reduction.) 

495. How did these questions affect the presidential cam- 
paign of 1832? 

The campaign, occurring in the midst of this strife, was very 
bitter. The nullification movement and presidential aspira- 
tions as well, had alienated Vice President Calhoun from the 
Democratic party. In renominating Jackson, Martin Van 
Buren of New York, (then secretary of state) was put up for 
vice president. 

496. What was the occasion and what the purpose of the 
Anti-Masonic party? 

The abduction and murder of Wm Morgan of Western New 
York, in 1826, was attributed to the Free Masons, as he had 
published a book exposing that fraternity. A strong anti-ma- 
sonic agitation was begun and in 1836 a national convention 



9 2 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



was held, at which political action was taken. The purpose of 
the movement was to oppose secret societies and defeat the 
members of such organizations when nominated for office. 

497. What was the result ? 

The election of Jackson and Van Buren, who received 219 
of the 288 electoral votes. Clay and Sergeant received 49, and 
the anti masonic candidates 7 votes. (South Carolina, in view 
of her possible secession, held herself aloof, and cast her votes 
for two of her own citizens, John Floyd and Henry Lee. 

498. What was Jackson's foreignpolicy ? 

It was bold even to the verge of rashness. For thirty years 
our government had been trying to obtain payment from 
France for injuries done to American commerce. Jackson re- 
commended to congress that, to hasten matters, enough French 
vessels should be seized to make up the amount due us. This 
nearly plunged the country into war with France, but through 
the mediation of Great Britain peace was restored and France 
paid the claims in question without delay, Similar claims were 
promptly paid by Portugal and other nations. 

499. To whom did this indemnity fund belong ? 

To the injured parties (or their heirs) in whose behalf the 
claims had been urged. 

500. Was the money paid over to them ? 

No; for some fifty years payment was refused, and it is only 
recently that the claimants were given any share of their fund. 

501. What states were admitted during this administration ? 
Arkansas and Michigan ; the former in 1836 and the latter 

early in 1S37. 

502. What was Arkansas when admitted ? 

A thinly settled territory of perhaps 20,000 inhabitants. It 
had been a part of Louisiana, and afterwards of Missouri Ter- 
ritory. It was first settled by the French and afterward by 
emigrants from the southern states. As a consequence it was 
admitted as a slave state. 

503. What was the slate of Michigan ? 

The fourth state taken from the Northwest Territory. A 
French settlement had been made at Detroit in 1701, but no 
further settlements were made for a long time. The population 
was small and the people almost wholly engaged in agriculture. 

504. What wars occurred during this administration ? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



93 



The Black Hawk war in 1S32 and the Seminole war begin- 
ning in. 1835. 

505. What was the Black Hawk war? 

The Indians of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, led by their 
chief, Black Hawk, revolted and were only put down after hard 
fighting. As a result they were driven far beyond the Miss- 
issippi. 

506. What was the origin of the trouble with the Seminole 
Indians? 

The Seminoles of Florida protected the negro slaves that 
fled to them, and this was the occasion of much complaint on 
the part of slave owners. This led to serious trouble between 
the whites and Indians, and in 1845, Major Dade and about 
100 men encamped near the Withlacoochee river, were attacked 
and killed. War then began and lasted for seven years. The 
Indians were finally beaten and removed across the Mississippi. 

507. Describe the presidential campaign of 1836, 

The Democrats in national convention nominated Martin 
Van Buren (then vice president) for president and Richard M. 
Johnson of Kentucky for vice president. The Whigs held no 
national convention, but generally supported Wm.H. Harrison, 
who was nominated by the state convention of Pennsylvania. 

508. Were nominating conventions not considered essential? 
They were just then coming into vogue. The Anti-MasorJc 

party held the first national convention for the nomination of 
candidates in 1831. In 1832 the Democrats sent delegate* to 
Baltimore to choose a candidate for vice president, it h< ig 
understood that Jackson was to be the party candidate /or 
president. The Whigs held a convention to put forward H ; iry 
Clay in 1832, but the party was too disorganized to call a con- 
vention in 1836. 

509. What was the party platform in 1836 ? 

Platforms were not yet invented. Addresses were usually 
issued by the friends of the candidates, and from these the peo- 
ple could form an opinion concerning the principles involved 
in the contest. Van Buren, in accepting the nomination, en- 
gaged to "follow generally in the footsteps of Gen. Jackson." 

510. What was the result of the election ? 

The victory of the Democratic party, which secured 170 
electoral votes for Van Buren out of a total of 294. The op- 
position vote for president was distributed as follows: Wm. 
H. Harrison, 73 votes; Hugh L. White, 26; Daniel Webster, 



94 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



14; W. B. Mangum, 11 ;. The vote for vice president was also 
scattered, R. M. Johnson receiving 147, Francis Granger 77, 
John Tyler 47, and Wm. Smith 23. As no one received a 
majority of the votes cast, the election went to the senate, by 
whom Johnson was chosen. 



CHAPTER XII — VAN BUREN's ADMINISTRATION. 

511. How long was Van Buren president ? 
Four years; from 1837 to 1841. 

512. What financial crisis occurred during this adminis- 
tration ? 

The panic of 1837. It began soon after Van Buren's in- 
auguration and caused great and long continued depression of 
business. 

513. What was the cause and what the occasion of this crisis? 
The cause was doubtless the inflation of prices based on the 

paper money issued by the banks and the speculative invest- 
ment of capital in unproductive enterprises. The immediate 
occasion was the "specie circular" issued near the end of 
Jackson's administration. 

514. What was the purport of this circular and what its 
effect? 

It ordered the government agents to take nothing but specie 
in payment for land. This drove bank notes out of circulation 
at the west and caused their presentation in large quantities 
for redemption. As a consequence many banks were forced 
to suspend and a panic was the natural result. 

515. How did this affect the government ? 

The government found the state banks in which the treasury 
funds were deposited unable to meet its demands. To pay 
cvrrent expenses treasury notes were issued, and anew system 
of government offices, the sub-treasuries, was established for 
the custody of the treasury surplus. 

516. What effect did the panic have on the states ? 

It reduced their income and made it so difficult to pay their 
debts that some of the states repudiated their bonds, and took 
refuge behind the eleventh constitutional amendment that 
prevented a suit being brought against them in the federal 
courts. 

517. How had the slavery question come into prominence at 
this time ? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



95 



The zeal and the increasing numbers of the abolition part;, 
at the north both angered and alarmed the slave holders. Then 
was no immediate danger of legislative attacks on slavery ii 
the Southern States, but slavery in the territories, in the distric, 
of Columbia, on the high seas or even in transportation fron 
state to state, was subject to congressional action, and there 
seemed a possibilitv of vexatious regulations. Moreover, th; 
abolitionists were believed to be ready to incite the negroes t 
run away or even to revolt and attack their masters. 

518. How did the southerners deal w T ith the agitation ? 
They effectually suppressed it in the southern states, and the 

demanded that the northerners also should suppress it by ai 
resting and punishing the chief agitators. 

519. How did the northerners look at the matter? 

At first with indifference, as a matter that did not concerr 
them. The question, however, became a political one, and 
though there was still little sympathy with the cause of aboli- 
tion, there was serious and angry discussion as to whether the 
abolitionists should be interfered with or not. Local efforts 
were made to break up anti-slavery meetings and these in some 
places ended in rioting and bloodshed. (The murder of Elijah 
P. Lovejoy, an abolitionist preacher at Alton, 111., and the 
wrecking of Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, where aboli- 
tion meetings were held, were among the most serious dis- 
turbances.) 

520. What was the contest over the right of petition ? 
Many petitions against slavery had been sent 10 congress, and 

these had given cause for angry debate. Congress, therefore 
decided not to listen to or discuss any petition relating in anj 
way to the slavery question. The struggle to induce congress, 
to revoke this order was led by Ex-President John Quincy 
Adams. It lasted four years, and aroused much angry feeling. 
Finally the right of petition was allowed and the obnoxious or- 
der revoked. 

521. What was the "patriot" rebellion in Canada and how 
did it concern the United States ? 

In 1837, there was a rebellion against the British govern- 
ment in Canada. The people of the United States sympathizec 
with the Canadian rebels, and bands were formed to go ovei 
and help them. President Van Buren warned these bandi 
that they were breaking the law in thus engaging in war or 
a friendly nation, and guards were established to prevent thek 



9 6 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



crossing the line. The Canadian rebellion was soon suppressed 
and the trouble came to an end. 

522. What was the trouble over the boundary of Maine ? 
The northeastern boundary of Maine was disputed by New 

Brunswick. Forts were built and troops sent to the frontier 
under Gen. Winfleld Scott. These were necessary not only 
to maintain our rights against the Canadians, but also to keep 
the peace between people of Maine and those of New Brunswick. 
(The question was settled by treaty in 1842.) 

523. What was the trouble about the Mormons that began 
during this administration ? 

The good people of Missouri and Illinois were grieved by 
the pretensions and practice of the Mormons and their leader, 
the prophet Joseph Smith. A Mormon settlement near 
Independence, Mo., was broken up by mobs; it then removed 
to Nauvoo, 111., where it was attacked in 1S44 and Joseph Smith 
killed. The Mormons then removed to Utah. 

524. What invention was made about this time ? 

In 1839 Goodyear took out his patent for "vulcanized" rub- 
ber, a process by which India rubber could be made hard and 
molded. 

525. What other great industry was started in this year ? 
The first express company —running between Boston and 

New York. (It was a new scheme, devised by W. F, Harn- 
den.) 

526. Who were the nominees in the presidential campaign 
of 1840 ? 

The Democrats renominated Van Buren and Johnson. The 
Whigs put up Gen. Wm. H. Harrison of Indiana, and John 
Tyler of Virginia. The abolitionists also put up candidates, 
but these secured only a small vote. 

529. What political principles were involved ? 

The Democratic convention adopted its first "platform', in 
the shape of a series of resolutions The Whigs nominated 
Harrison without platform, on the general ground of opposition 
to Jacksonian Democracy Considering this,, and the fact 
that the Whigs made the campaign almost altogether on 
Harrison's personal superiority to his opponent, it may be said 
that there were no political principles involved in the cam- 
paign. 

528. What was the nature of the Democratic platform ? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



97 



It consisted of nine resolutions, affirming the limitation of 
the federal authority and declaring against (i) international 
improvements ; (2) a protective tariff; (3) any United States 
bank; and (4) any interference with the state institution of 
slavery. The 9th resolution denounced the then incipient 
know-nothingism that sought to abridge the privilege of 
naturalization. 

529. Why is this platform especially memorable ? 

Both because it was the first of its kind, and because it form- 
ed the basis of the Democratic platform up to i860. Each 
national convention of that party reaffirmed the platform of 
its predecessor without material change, simply adding reso- 
lutions upon the current issues as they arose. 

530. What was the platform of the abolition party in this 
year ? 

It favored the abolition of slavery in the district of Columbia 
and in the territories ; also the prohibition of interstate slave- 
trade, and general opposition to slavery to the full extent of 
constitutional power. 

531. What was the result of the election ? 

The victory of the Whig party, their candidates, Harrison 
and Tyler, securing 234 of the 294 electoral votes. 

532. What can you say of the successful candidates ? 

Wm. H. Harrison was born in Virginia in 1773. He be- 
came a captain in the United States army and settled in the 
Northwest territory in 1797. Was governor of Indiana terri- 
tory in 1801-13, and as major general in the army took a pro- 
minent part in the war of 1812. After that he went to con- 
gress as representative and as senator, and in 1828-29, was sent 
as minister to Colombia. John Tyler was a citizen of Vir- 
ginia, where he was born in 1790 ; had served in both houses of 
congress and as governor of his state, He was an ardent state 
sovereignty Democrat, a supporter of the Nullificationists of 
South Carolina and was a Whig only in his opposition to 
Gen. Jackson. He was nominated to catch the southern vote, 
the Whigs having no principles except that of a revolt against 
Jackson. 



chapter xiii. — Harrison's and tyler's administrations. 

533. How long was Harrison president? 

Only about a month. He died April 6, 1841, and was suc- 
ceeded by Vice President Tyler. 



9.8 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



534. How long did Tyler hold the office? 

Till the end of the term in 1845. There was no attempt to 
renominate him, as his party were greatly dissatisfied with his 
administration. 

535. What was the ground of complaint against him? 
That, being elected by the Whigs, he betrayed the trust of 

his party in not forwarding the measures desired by them. 
Harrison had summoned a special session of congress to con- 
sider the financial condition of the country. This congress 
wished to establish a new United States bank and passed a bill 
chartering one. President Tyler vetoed the bill, pointing out 
certain faults in it. These were remedied, and the bill again 
passed, but the president still interposed his veto. A quarrel 
began which completely alienated the president and his party, 

536. How did the Whigs show their indignation? 

The Whig leaders, whom Harrison had called to his cabinet, 
resigned, rather than serve under Tyler. Webster alone re- 
tained his office — that of secretary of state — and he remained 
from no sympathy with Tyler, but from a desire to complete 
his treaty negotiations with England. When they were done, 
he also resigned. In congress the Whig majority denounced 
the president and opposed him on every opportunity. 

537. How long did this state of things last? 

For two years ; at the next election, the Democrats got a 
majority, and these, though they had no love for Tyler, had 
no reason to hate him. 

5 "^8. What important legislation was effected during the 
Whig supremacy? 

A general bankruptcy law was passed, to relieve the host 
of insolvent debtors caused by business depression. A pro- 
tective tariff — averaging over 32 per cent — was established, 
and an impetus was thus given to favored lines of manufac- 
ture. 

539- What was the result? 

The result proved disastrous. Capitalists seem to have 
plunged into manufacture depending wholly on government 
favor. When the protective tariff was withdrawn — as it was 
in 1846, by the Democrats — the fostered interests collapsed like 
soap bubbles. 

540. What was the subject of Webster's treaty negotiations 
with England? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



99 



The business that kept Webster in the cabinet was the set- 
tlement of our northern boundary question. In 1842 he con- 
cluded a treaty — called the Ashburton treaty, from the name 
of the British minister — that settled the northeast boundary 
line of Maine, and the northern boundary from Lake Huron 
to the Rocky Mountains. An extradition treaty was also ne- 
gotiated. 

541. What was the nature of the extradition treaty? 

It was the first treaty of the kind negotiated by our govern- 
ment. By it a criminal escaping from one country to the other 
was to be arrested and sent back for trial. (Only the most 
serious crimes were mentioned as justifying extradition.) 

542. What was the chief political question of Tyler's admin- 
istration ? 

The proposal to annex Texas, and thus add to the territory 
from which, according to the Missouri compromise, new slave 
states could be formed. 

543. To whom did Texas belong? 

Texas was at this time an independent state. The territory 
was originally explored by Spain and was claimed by that 
country as a part of Mexico. The United States also claimed 
it as a part of the Louisiana purchase. When Florida was pur- 
chased, the United States, as a partial consideration, withdrew 
its claims to Texas. Mexico became independent and Texas, 
organized as a state by American settlers, became a member 
of the Mexican union, from which she seceded in 1835. 

544. What was the cause of the secession ? 

A desire to join the American union, and dissatisfaction 
w T ith the government of Mexico, which was usually that of a 
military dictator who had seized on the government by revo- 
lution. 

545. Were they permitted to secede peaceably? 

No ; the Mexicans sent an army to subdue them, but the 
Texans under Gen, Houston defeated it at San Jacinto, and 
thus forced Mexico to withdraw from the territory, though she 
still refused to acknowledge the independence of Texas. In 
order to insure their independence and to protect themselves 
against marauding attacks from Mexico, the Texans sought 
admission to the American union. 

546. What objection was made to the admission of Texas ? 
The admission was favored by the southern Democrats from 

the first; the northern Democrats objected to it and the Whig 



IOO 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



party opposed it as likely to lead to war with Mexico, 
By concerted agreement. Clay and Van Buren, the leaders of 
the Whig and Democratic parties respectively, published letters 
opposing the annexation. It was also their plan to exclude 
the issue from the coming presidential campaign. President 
Tyler, however, was in favor of the admission, and skillfully 
managed to make the question a test one and forced the Dem- 
ocratic leaders to endorse it. 

547. Who was his chief assistant in this work ? 

John C. Calhoun, who became secretary of state during the 
latter part of Tyler's administration. 

548. How did they manage matters ? 

Tyler had negotiated a treaty of annexation, but congress 
refused to ratify it and provide for the admission of the new 
state. Calhoun quickly convinced the slave states that it was 
for their interest that Texas should be added to the union. 
Hence, when Van Buren declared against annexation, the 
south opposed his nomination and defeated it. James K. Polk, 
a southern man, was nominated on a platform demanding the 
admission of Texas. 

549. How did the question affect the political campaign ? 

It undoubtedly secured the election of Polk. Clay was in- 
duced by his southern friends to withdraw his opposition to 
the annexation, and thus offend the northern Whigs, many of 
whom voted for the abolition candidates. Clay lost the state 
of New York and with it the election. 

550. What was the effect of this victory ? 

The congress that had refused its assent to the Texas treaty 
changed front, and the annexation was accomplished. 

551. What state was admitted during Tyler's administration ? 
Florida was admitted early in 1845. (Texas was annexed, 

but not admitted till after Polk's inauguration.) Florida was 
acquired from Spain in 1819. It was first settled at St. 
Augustine in 1565 —the first settlement in our territory, by the 
way — and at the date of its admission contained something 
over 30,000 inhabitants. 

551. Whence the name of this state ? 

It was so called by the Spaniards because discovered on 
Easter Day — Pascua Florida, the "feast of flowers." At first 
the name was applied to the coast of the Gulf states and to the 
south Atlantic coast as well. Though circumscribed by the 
formation of other states, it claimed an extension along the 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



IOI 



coast to the Mississippi, and it was the settlement of these con- 
flicting boundary questions that made its acquisition seem so 
desirable. 

552. What was the "Dorr rebellion ?" 

It was an illegal movement in Rhode Island to secure a new 
constitution with extended suffrage. In 1841 the common 
people, excluded from the suffrage in Rhode Island, formed a 
constitution and elected Thomas William Dorr governor. 
Dorr attempted to act the part assigned him, but was arrested 
by the authorized state government, tried for and convicted of 
treason, and sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was, how- 
ever, pardoned in 1854, anc * m a few years the desired change 
in the constitution was peaceably effected. 

553. What was the u anti-rent" agitation in New York ? 
Many New York farmers held their lands on long leases, 

dating back to the Dutch settlement of the country. These 
were legally simple leases, but they were regarded by the ten- 
ants as copyhold grants, entitling them to perpetual owner- 
ship at fixed rent. Discovering the legal weakness of their 
position, the tenants began an agitation against the payment of 
rents, claiming to own their lands in fee. Armed conflicts 
occurred, and the state militia were called out to keep the peace. 

554. How was the matter settled ? 

Popular sympathy was with the tenants, and the landlords 
were forced to sell them the land at low prices and so matters 
finally adjusted themselves. 

555. What development of mineral wealth occurred during 
this administration ? 

The Indians gave up the country along Lake Superior, and 
copper mines began to be opened there, so that the extent and 
richness of the mineral wealth of this section became gen- 
erally known. 

556. What great invention was perfected at this time ? 
The electro-magnetic telegraph, invented by Samuel F. B. 

Morse, and patented by him in 1837, was tested in 1844. The 
first line, from Washington to Baltimore, was constructed at 
government expense under an appropriation made by congress 
in 1843. 

557. Who were the candidates in the presidential election 
of 1844 ? 

For president and vice-president the Whigs nominated 
Henry Clay and Theodore Frehinghuysen of New York. Ex- 



102 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



President Van Buren had a majority in the Democratic con- 
vention at Baltimore, Md., but the rules of the convention 
required a two-thirds vote to nominate, and this the opposition 
of the south made impossible. James K. Polk of Tennessee 
and George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania were the nominees. 
The Liberty party again put up James G. Birneyand Thomas 
Morris on an abolition platform. 

558. What were the platforms ? 

The Whig convention offered but a single brief resolution 
defining its position in politics. The Democrats reiterated 
their former platform and endorsed the Texas annexation and 
Oregon occupation schemes. The Liberty party formulated 
an extensive and comprehensive platform to show its stand on 
all the questions of the day. 

559. What was the result of the election ? 

Of the 275 electoral votes, Polk and Dallas received 170 and 
Clay and Frelinghuysen 105. 

560. What can you say of the successful candidates ? 

Mr. Polk was born in North Carolina in 1795 but in early 
life removed to Tennessee, where he became a lawyer and 
Democratic politician. He served in congress fourteen years 
and as governor of his state four years. (He served one term 
as president and died three months after leaving office in T849.) 
George Miffiin Dallas was born at Philadelphia in 1792. He 
had served as senator from his state and as minister to St. 
Petersburg. 



CHAPTER XIV. — POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 

561. How long was Mr. Polk president? 
Four years; from 1845 to 1849. 

562. What was the chief event of this administration ? 
The war with Mexico, and the acquisition thereby of the 

southwestern section of the United States. 

563. What was the origin of the Mexican war? 

The annexation of Texas, which was still claimed by Mexico 
as a part of her territory. Also the fact that the western 
boundary of Texas was disputed and the United States was 
determined to maintain the claims of Texas. 

564. State the ground of dispute. 

A long strip of territory, lying northeast of the Rio Grande, 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



IO3 



originally formed the province of Coahuila in the Mexican 
Republic. Afterward it was joined to the state of Texas, but 
when Texas seceded and was joined to the United States, Mex- 
ico held that the province of Coahuila of necessity reverted to 
its original owners. Mexico therefore claimed that a line run- 
ning up the Neuces river — and thence northwest to the Rocky 
mountains — formed the boundary of Texas. 

565. Did the United States respect this claim? 

No; had it done so, war might have been avoided. Deter- 
mined to sustain the claim of Texas to the province of Coa- 
huila, President Polk ordered Gen. Taylor to advance his army 
of occupation to the Rio Grande river. 

566. What was the result of this move? 

As was anticipated, the result was a collision between 
American and Mexican troops. The Mexicans attacked a 
scouting party, killing several and capturing the others. Con- 
gress, however, immediately resolved that "war existed by the 
act of Mexico." 

567. What was the date of this declaration ? 

May 13, 1846. Two battles had already been fought — that 
at Palo Alto, May 8, and that of Resaca de la Palma, May 9, but 
the news had not reached Washington. 

568. W T hat was the result of these battles-* 

The defeat of the Mexican army and its r etreat across the 
Rio Grande. (Gen. Taylor had about 2000 men; the Mexican 
commander had two or three times that number, but they were 
untrained and inefficiently armed and equipped.) 

569. Was any attempt made to close the war with the ex- 
pulsion of the Mexicans from the disputed territory? 

No; congress voted supplies and authorized the enlistment 
of 50,000 men to carry on war with Mexico. The Whig party 
in and out of congress declared that war existed by the act of 
the United States and not by the act of Mexico, but they voted 
to continue the war just the same. 

570. What was the first object in the war with Mexico? 
The conquest of Upper Mexico, then including all of the 

country south of the Oregon line and west of the Rocky 
Mountains. A fleet sent to the Pacific coast, aided by a land 
force under Col. Fremont, the explorer of Oregon, conquered 
the few Mexican settlements in California during the summer 
of 1846, and an overland expedition at the same time took 
possession of New Mexico. This expedition also marched 



io4 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



southward into Mexico and captured the city of Chihuahua. 

571. What was the next movement? 

An invasion of Mexico by Gen Taylor, from his post in 
Texas near the mouth of the Rio Grande. He captured the 
city of Monterey, and defeated the Mexicans in a pitched bat- 
tle at Buena Vista, and thus secured possession of northeastern 
Mexico. 

572. What change of plan was then made? 

Early in 1847, an expedition was sent under Gen. Scott to 
Vera Cruz and thence to the city of Mexico. With about 12,- 
000 men Scott took Vera Cruz and fought the battle of Cerro 
Gordo in March and April, 1847. Then he halted at Pueblo 
until August, when he again moved forward and, after an un- 
broken series of victories, captured the city of Mexico, Sept. 
14, 1847. 

573. Did this end the war? 

Yes; there was some guerrilla warfare afterward, and a 
treaty of peace was not signed until the next year, but the war 
virtually ended with the surrender of Mexico. 

574. When was the treaty of peace signed, and what were 
its provisions? 

Feb. 2, 1848, at the village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a treaty 
was signed whereby the United States extorted from Mexico, as 
the price of peace, the cession of all of her northern territory. A 
bonus of $15,000,000 was granted her, and debts said to be due 
from Mexico to citizens of this country to the amount of $3,000- 
000, were assumed by the United States government, but these 
concessions in no way reconciled the Mexicans to the loss of 
their territory. 

475. On what grounds was this seizure of territory justifi- 
able? 

On utilitarian grounds. The country was destined to be 
settled by emigrants from the states and from Europe. We 
have every reason to suppose that these settlers would have 
rebelled, like Texas, against Mexican rule, and sought an- 
nexation to the union, or independence, perhaps, under 
European protection. Permanent peace was therefore better 
assured by the transfer of the territory to the United States. 

576. What was known of the value of the country thus 
acquired? 

Nothing was known or suspected of its mineral wealth, and 
only the Pacific coast now included in California, was thought 
to be of value for agriculture. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



577. How was the territorial acquisition desirable from a 
political point of view? 

The acquisition was sought, from the first, as a measure oi 
reinforcement to the southern slave-holders, opening, as it 
did, new territory to settlement by them, and offering the 
hope of new slave states, that would perpetuate the equality 
of power in the senate heretofore maintained. From a party 
point of view, however, the Mexican conquest was not advan- 
tageous to the Democratic party, since its immediate result was 
a victory for their political opponents. 

538. How did this happen? 

It grew not from any opposition to the war or to the de- 
spoiling of Mexico, but from an aversion on the part of the 
north to the extension of slavery. Except in New England, 
the Mexican war was enthusiastically supported at the north, 
and the Whig candidate for president in 1848 was a successful 
general. Yet the anti-slavery sentiment was strong, and the 
proposal to exclude slavery from the newly acquired territory 
was received with favor. 

579. What was the Wilmot Proviso ? 

It was a condition attached to a vote of two million dollars, 
to be applied at the discretion of the president in securing a 
cession of territory from Mexico. This measure was proposed 
by President Polk in a special message three months after 
the declaration of war. The house granted the money, but 
on the motion of David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, attached a 
proviso that it should be "an express and fundamental condi- 
tion to the acquisition of any territory from Mexico, that 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist 
therein." 

580. What was the effect of this proviso? 

It prevented the passage oi the bill by the senate. Congress, 
however, at its next session, made an unconditional appropri- 
ation of three millions for the purchase of territory, so that 
Mr. Wilmot's motion seemed to have failed, yet it rallied the 
north in favor of the restriction of slavery, and so aided in 
the defeat of the pro-slavery Democrats. 

581. Was any further attempt made to exclude slavery from 
the Mexican cession ? 

No; the senate ratified the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
and the house voted the $15,000,000 demanded by it, without 
any attempt to raise the question of slavery. Mexico, in ced- 



io6 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



ing the territory, proposed the exclusion of slavery from it, 
but the proposal was scouted by the American government. 
(The territory had, of course, been "free" under Mexican rule. 
Texas had revolted, partly to become a slave state.) 

582. What was the "Oregon question?" 

The question whether Oregon belonged to the United 
States or Great Britain was raised early in the century. In 
1818, an agreement was made for a joint occupation for ten 
years, and in 1827 the joint occupation was prolonged for an 
indefinite period. In 1846 the United States withdrew from 
the agreement, claiming the territory on the Pacific coast "be- 
tween latitude 42 degrees and 54 degrees 40 minutes." 

583. How did this settlement become an issue in the cam- 
paign of 1844? 

The Democratic partv declared our right to the Oregon 
country northward to 54:40 undisputable, and pledged them- 
selves to maintain it, by force of arms if necessary. "Fifty- 
four, forty or fight," was one of the campaign cries that se- 
cured the election of Polk. 

584. Was the declaration a sincere one? 

No; the country was in no way prepared to fight England 
for the possession of a territory with which it had no means 
of communication. Even while the clamor for 54:40 was 
raised, the Secretary of State (Mr. Calhoun) was secretly ne- 
gotiating a settlement on the forty-ninth parallel as the north- 
ern boundary of Oregon. 

585. Why was a speedy settlement desired? 

To prepare the country for a war with Mexico. The South 
cared little for Oregon, and Mr. Calhoun desired only a 
prompt and honorable settlement of the question. 

5S6. What stand did President Polk take on this question? 

In his inaugural address he reiterated the Democratic de- 
mand with respect to the northwestern boundary, yet when the 
matter came to a test, he receded from his position and advised 
a compromise. 

587. When and -how was the matter settled? 

In 1S46, by a treaty with Great Britain, in which the 
forty-ninth parallel was accepted as the boundary between 
the possessions of the two countries west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

588. What was the basis of our claims to Oregon? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY, 



We claimed it as the natural extension of the Louisiana pur- 
chase (though not strictly included therein) and also on the 
ground that the country had been first explored by Lewis and 
Clarke — both American citizens. Still another claim grew 
out of the rapid settlement of the country by immigrants from 
the states during the period of joint occupation. 

589. How did the Oregon settlement affect American 
politics ? 

It discomfited the Democratic party at the north', where 
the party leaders were taunted with their pusilanimous sur- 
render to Great Britain. (The nomination of Gen. Cass, an 
enthusiastic supporter of the 54:40 boundary claim, and one 
who bitterly opposed the treaty of 1846, was an attempt to 
placate the northern Democracy.) 

590. What states were admitted during Polk's administra- 
tion ? 

Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin. (Texas was annexed during 
Tyler's administration, but her admission to the Union was 
effected in 1845 after Polk was inaugurated.) 

591. Whence the name of Texas? 

The name is first recorded by LaSalle in 1687. It was 
originally a word of welcome of Spanish or Indian derivation, 
signifying "we are friends." The name was applied to the 
inhabitants and to the country * 

592. When was Iowa admitted to the Union? 

In 1846. Iowa was the fourth state formed from the Louis- 
iana purchase. The country was first settled permanently 
after the Black Hawk war in 1832, through Dubuque is safd 
to have been founded by a French Canadian of that name in 
1788. The population of Iowa in 1840 was 43,112. 

593. Whence the name of this state? 

Iowa is a French form of a nick-name given by the Sioux 
to the Pahoja tribe. It signifies "the sleepy ones." 

594. When was Wisconsin admitted as a state ? 

In 1848. It w r as the fifth and last state formed from the 
North-west Territory. It had been settled by the French at 



*A jest—current forty years since,— gave a pretended derivation 
from the following couplet, in which the idea of "Welcome" is curi- 
ously preserved : 

"When every other land rejects us, 
This is the land that freely takes us." 



108 THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 

several points on the lakes, in the latter part of the seven- 
teenth century. After the Black Hawk war of 1832 it was 
throw r n open to settlement, and in 1840 it had over 30,000 in- 
habitants. 

595. How did it take its name? 

From the Wisconsin river, said to have been named by 
Marquette "Masconsin — wild, rushing channel." The name 
was changed to Ouisconsin and then to the present form. 

596. What w r ere the chief inventions patented during Polk's 
administration? 

The sewing machine, patented by Elias Howe in 1846, and 
the Hoe cvlinder printing press, patented by R. M. Hoe in 
1847. 

597. What advance was made in surgery? 

Ether began to be used to produce unconsciousness, and so 
both the pain and the danger of surgical operations were di- 
minished. Ether was first used by Dr. Morton of Boston, in 
1846. 

598. What notable institutions were founded? 

A naval school was founded by the government at Annapolis, 
Md.,in 1845. The Smithsonian Institution was founded in Wash- 
ington in 1846, under a legacy left to the government for that 
purpose by James Smithson, an eminent English chemist and 
philanthropist w T ho died in 1824. (The legacy, amounting to 
$515,000 was paid over to the United States in 1838, to be 
used in establishing an institution "For the increase and diffu- 
sion of knowledge amongst men.") 

599. What executive department was organized in the 
national government? 

The department of the interior, established by act of con- 
gress early in 1849. It was composed of bureaus taken from 
the state and treasury departments. The cabinet had not 
been increased since the formation of the navy department 
in 1798. The first secretary of the interior was Thomas Ew- 
ing of Ohio, appointed in 1849 by President Taylor. 

600. Who were the candidates in the presidential election of 
1848? 

The Democratic candidates were Lewis Cass, of Michigan, 
for president, and Wm. O. Butler, of Kentucky,for vice-presi- 
dent. Tne Whigs nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor and Mil- 
lard Fillmore. The Free Soil Democrats nominated Ex- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. IO9 

president Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams of Massa- 
chusetts. 

601. Who were the Free Soil Democrats? 

Northern Democrats who sought the restriction of slavery 
to the states in which it already existed, and the preservation 
of the territories for free labor, unburdened by competition 
with that of slaves. The party also included most of the 
Liberty or Abolition party and not a few anti-slavery Whigs. 

602. Was this new party successful? 

No; it polled less than 300,000 votes all told. Yet since 
Van Buren to some extent retained his hold on the New 
York Democrats, the Free Soil movement defeated Cass and 
Butler in that state, and the Whigs secured the vote of New 
York and with it the presidency. 

603. What was the electoral vote ? 

Taylor and Fillmore received 163 votes; Cass and Butler 
1 57 votes. 

604. What can you say of the successful candidates? 

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784. He was ap- 
pointed lieutenant in the army in 1808 and served in the war 
of 1812 and in various Indian wars, rising to the rank of ma- 
jor general. His victories in the Mexican war made him 
famous and led to his nomination and election. Millard Fill- 
more, born in 1800, was at the time of his nomination a New 
York lawyer who had served two terms in congress and one 
term as state comptroller. He was an able, but in no way a 
distinguished man. 



CHAPTER XY. — TAYLOR'S AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATIONS. 

605. How long was Taylor president? 

Only a little over fifteen months ; he was inaugurated in 
March, 1849, and died July 9, 1850. 

606. Who succeeded him? 

Vice President Fillmore succeeded to the presidency, which 
he held till the end of the term in 1853. 

607. What was the chief event of Taylor's administration? 
The adoption of the compromise of 1850, which postponed 

for ten years a collision between the north and south on the 
slavery question. 

608. What was the nature of the crisis? 



no 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Owing to the discovery of gold in California in 1848, that 
country had been rapidly settled and the question of its ad- 
mission as a state was forced upon the attention of congress. 
The south claimed it, under the Missouri compromise, as slave 
territory; but the majority of the citizens of the new state 
wished to exclude slavery, and in this desire they were en- 
couraged by the Whigs and Abolitionists of the northern states. 
Further cause of complaint was found in the aid given to run- 
away slaves making their escape across the northern states to 
Canada. The proposition to forbid the sale of slaves in the 
District of Columbia was considered a step toward the pro- 
hibition of slavery in the District and the territories. The 
south, embittered by these evidences of hostility to her peculiar 
institution, was ready to secede from the union. 

609. How was the trouble averted? 

By a compromise arranged by Henry Clay. In May, 1850, 
the difficult questions affecting slavery were in the senate all 
referred to a single committee, of which he w r as chairman. 
This committee reported an "omnibus," or general, bill cover- 
ing all the points in dispute, thus offering a comprehensive 
settlement that the majority of both parties might be willing 
to accept. 

610. What was the Texas boundary dispute, and how was 
the slavery question involved? 

Texas claimed a part of New Mexico, and to facilitate a 
legal settlement of the dispute, the Whigs proposed to admit 
New Mexico as a state. This, of course, raised the question 
of slavery. 

611. What were the provisions of the compromise bill? 
California was admitted (on her own request) without 

slavery; Texas was granted $10,000,000 in payment for her 
New Mexican lands, and territorial governments were provid- 
ed for the Mexican cession, without raising the question of 
slavery. Slave-holding was sanctioned in the District of 
Columbia, but the buying and selling of slaves therein was 
forbidden, and finally a new fugitive slave law was proposed. 

612. Was Mr. Clay's bill passed? 

Not in its original form ; the compromise was accepted and 
the bills passed separately. 

613. Politically considered, how was this period notable? 
It was notable on account of the decline in the Whig party 

which lost nearly all its southern members by desertion. It 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



I I I 



leadership of both the old parties. During four years Clay, 
Webster, Calhoun, Polk and Taylor died, and numbers of 
political leaders of minor reputation retired from public life. 
This contributed to the decline of the Whig party, for the new 
men of note from the north were pronounced opponents of 
slavery, like Seward, Chase and Sumner. 

614. How long was Fillmore president? 

From July, 1850, to March, 1853. There was no prospect 
of his renomination by the Whig party, but other parties took 
him up. In 1856 he was nominated for the presidency by the 
"American" or know-nothing party, but was, of course, de- 
feated. 

615. What state was admitted to the union during his ad- 
ministration? 

California; admitted in 1850. This state was considered al- 
most worthless territory at the time of its conquest by the 
United States in 1846, but the discovery of gold in 1848, and 
the later development of its agricultural resources have placed 
it in the front rank in point of prosperity. 

616. Whence the name of this state? 

It was the name given by Cortez to the peninsula of Lower 
California. It is said to be taken from an old romance in 
which it was applied to an imaginary island of the Indies, very- 
rich in precious metals. 

617. What were the means of communication with Cali- 
fornia ? 

California could be reached either by a long overland jour- 
ney on horseback or in emigrant wagons, or by a long sea 
voyage around Cape Horn. A railroad across the isthmus of 
Panama was projected, but it was not completed until 1855 
Congress, in 1853, ordered a survey for a route for a Pacific 
railway, but the road was not begun for twelve years. 

618. What was the "Maine Law" of 1851? 

A state law to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxi- 
cating liquors in the state of Maine. It was the first experi- 
ment of the kind on the part of a state of our union. 

619. Who were the presidential candidates in the campaign 
of 1^52? 1 

The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce and Wm. R. 
King. The Whigs, Gen. Winfield Scott and Wm. A. Graham. 
The Free Soil Democrats put up John P. Hale of New Hamp 
shire and George W. Julian of Indiana. 



112 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



620. What were the principles involved in the campaign? 
The Democrats reasserted their party views with a general 

demand of "justice toward slave-holders." The Whigs stood 
by the compromise of 1850, and for that reason endorsed the 
fugitive slave law, thus giving great offense to the anti-slavery 
men at the north. At the south, the slavery question had 
driven most of the Whigs into the Democratic party, but the 
Whig leaders at the north would not give up the hope of re- 
gaining favor in that section. The Free Soil party comprised 
the most pronounced anti-slavery men of the old parties. 

621. What was the result of the election? 

A triumphant victory for the Democrats, and overwhelming 
defeat for the Whigs The Free Soilers, too, polled a greatly 
diminished vote. Pierce and King received 254 electoral 
votes and Scott and Graham but 42. 

622. What can you say of the successful candidates? 
Pierce was a native of New Hampshire, where he was born 

in 1804. He was a party leader in congress and had become 
a brigadier general by service in the army during the Mexican 
war. King had become prominent by long and creditable 
service in both houses of congress, but he was an old man, in 
feeble health, and died before he could be installed as vice- 
president. 



chapter xvi. — pierce's administration. 

623. How long was Pierce president? 

One term of four years only; from March, 1853, to March, 

1857- 

624. What was the chief political event of this administra- 
tion ? 

The repeal or nullification of the Missouri compromise of 
1820. This was important, not only in itself, but also in its 
effect on the peace of the union. 

625. What was the state of feeling between north and 
south ? 

The compromise of 1850 had restored peace, and there was 
a general feeling that further agitation of the slavery question 
should be condemned. This desire for peace had influenced 
the people in the election, and the overwhelming victory of 
the Democrats was taken as a guarantee that the truce would 
be observed. For about a year a new "era of good feeling" 
seemed to have begun. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



626. Was this cordiality sincere? 

No ; it was but an armistice. The causes of strife still ex- 
isted, and the two sections feared and distrusted, even if they 
did not hate, each other. Even the religious denominations— 
with the exception of Protestant Episcopalians and Roman 
Catholics— had divided into churches north and south. 

627. What broke the truce between north and south? 
The desire of the pro-slavery party to profit by its majority 

in congress. In the compromise of 1850, the anti-slavery party, 
taking advantage of its majority, had forced the south to agree 
to admit California as a free state and to leave the question of 
slavery in the rest of the Mexican cession open — to be deter- 
mined by the settlers in the territories. The pro-slavery 
party, coming into power, not unnaturally felt itself justified 
in applying the "free choice" principle to all the territories, 
and demanded that the question of slavery should in each 
territory be decided by a popular vote of the settlers organiz- 
ing the territorial government. 

628. Who was the chief exponent of this popular sover- 
eignty doctrine? 

Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois. He was the leader of the 
Democratic party at the North, and being an earnest believer 
in the right of the people to manage their own affairs, he pro- 
posed — instead of a new compromise which many thought 
necessary — an absolute renunciation, on the part of congress, 
of the right to interfere in the case of slavery in the territories. 

629. How was the "popular sovereignty" idea received by 
the people ? 

With favor by the south, and with disfavor by the north. 
In neither case was its reception altogether sincere ; the north 
would have denied the right of congress to force slavery on 
any state, and the south would not have scrupled to use the 
federal authority to forward its ends, had the opportunity 
offered. 

630. Ignoring the moral question as to slavery extension, 
was Douglas's proposal a fair one? 

As between the parties, yes. It was, however, an unwise 
suggestion. It enabled congress to avoid the responsibility of 
a decision, but .it gave occasion for strife and bloodshed in 
Kansas, the territory then under dispute. 

631. How did Douglas proceed to carry out his plan? 

He introduced a bill — which passed May 30, 1854 — ^ or the 



H4 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



organization of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 
this bill, the Missouri compromise of March 6, 1820, was de- 
clared to be inoperative and void, because "inconsistent with 
the principle of non-intervention by congress with slavery in 
the states and territories, as recognized by the compromise 
measures of 1850." 

632. What was the declared intent and purpose of the bill? 
The bill declared that its u true intent and meaning was not 

to legislate slavery into any territory or state, and not to ex- 
clude it therefrom, but to leave the people perfectly free to 
regulate their domestic institutions in their own way." 

633. What followed as a result of the passage of this bill? 
Both north and south made vigorous efforts to secure the 

territories for their respective parties. Emigrants were as- 
sisted and encouraged by those of their political party. Kan- 
sas was the territory best suited to slavery, and the slave-hold- 
ers hoped to secure it by sending thither large colonies of 
pro-slavery settlers. 

634. Had they succeeded, what would have been the result? 
Probably the restoration of the "balance of power" political 

system. With two additional votes in the senate, the south 
could have blocked any movement to increase the prepon- 
derance of the free states. The territories would have been 
divided, probably, and the slave owner set free from any fear 
of federal attacks on his property in slaves. 

635. How did the struggle affect politics in the northern 
states ? 

It rallied the anti-slavery party and led to the election of an 
"anti- Nebraska" majority in the house of representatives. 

636. What new party was organized by the "anti- Nebraska" 
men? 

The Republican party. The purpose of the political 
organization was the exclusion of slavery from the territories 
north of the Missouri compromise line, but it also took a 
stand on other political questions. Generally speaking, it in- 
herited the doctrines of the Whig party, except the one of 
non-interference with slavery. 

637. What other new party sprang up at this time? 

The "American" party. It sought to create a diversion 
from the slavery question, by raising objections to the immi- 
gration and naturalization of foreigners. It especially sought 
the exclusion of foreign-born Roman Catholics from office. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 115 

638. How was this party organized? 

In a manner peculiar to itself. An order or secret society 
was organized, with lodges in all friendly communities. All 
proceedings in these lodges were held secret under oath, and 
even the members professed to know nothing of the order. 
Hence the new party were nick-named the u know-nothings," 
a term which still survives to apply to those would restrict 
the privileges of foreign-born citizens. 

639. How did the slavery question affc '.t our foreign re- 
lations at this time? 

It prompted schemes for the acquisition of more territory 
that could be used to organize new slave states. Cuba, Nica- 
ragua and the Sandwich Islands were among the coveted pos- 
sessions. 

640. What attempts were made to secure Cuba? 

Several filibustering expeditions were sent out —by private 
citizens — to conquer Cuba, organize it as an independent state 
and apply for its admission to the union. These came to 
nothing, the designs of the conspirators being foiled by the 
vigilance of the Spanish government of the islands. The 
United States government then offered to buy Cuba at a good 
ro^md price, but Spain refused to sell it. 

641. What was the Ostend circular? 

In 1854, the three leading United States ministers in Europe 
met at Ostend, Belgium, and formulated a circular or general 
letter, to the effect that the possession of Cuba was becoming 
a necessity to United States, and that Spain, being unable to 
govern the island, could not hope to long retain it. (The cir- 
cular was an ill-disguised threat that the United States if not 
allowed to buy the island would take it by force.) 

642. How was the circular regarded at the north? 

With proper indignation, as a measure to reinforce the 
slave states. (In 1856, when James Buchanan, — who, as min- 
ister to England, had joined in issuing the circular — was run- 
ning for president, the Republican platform denounced " the 
highwayman's plea, that might makes right, as embodied in 
Ostend circular.") 

643. What other country was assailed by filibusters? 
Central America. Adventurers from the United States 

aided rebellions in Nicaragua and neighboring states, with the 
avowed intent of conquering the country and bringing it into 
the union. The most considerable expedition was one headed 



n6 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



by Gen. Wm. Walker, a southerner, who achieved a tem- 
porary success in Nicaragua. (In i860 Walker was captured 
and shot by the authorities of the invaded country.) 

644. What other complications in our foreign affairs arose 
during this administration? 

A difficulty with Austria in 1853 over the Martin Koszta af- 
fair, and the coercion of Japan into agreeing to a commercial 
treaty. 

645. What was the Martin Koszta affair? 

Martin Koszta was an Austrian subject who had led a re- 
bellion against the government, and being defeated had fled to 
America where he had taken steps to become naturalized. In 
1853, being in Asia Minor, he was seized by the Turkish 
authorities and delivered to the commander of an Austrian 
frigate at Smyrna. He claimed American protection, but 
Austria at that time denied the right of her subjects to trans- 
fer their allegiance to any other government. Capt. Ingra- 
ham, then in command of an American man-of-war lying in 
the harbor of Smyrna, interfered, and by threats forced the 
surrender of Koszta by the captain of the Austrian vessel. 

646. What was the result? 

A wrangle between America and Austria over the citizen- 
ship of Koszta. Capt. Ingraham was not only upheld by his 
government, but was specially commended and decorated with 
a medal. This gave further offense to Austria, bnt she was 
eventually forced to concede (as England had done) to the 
right of her subjects to expatriate themselves. 

647. What was achieved by Commodore Perry in Japan? 
Japan had hitherto refused to have any dealings with foreign 

nations. In 1854 Commodore M. C. Perry, sent to the Japan 
sea to protect American vessels and to demand satisfaction 
for ill-treatment of American crews on Japanese coasts, forced 
his way to the capital and induced the government to sign a 
commercial treaty. 

648. What trouble did we have with Great Britain? 

In 1855 we complained of the enlistment of troops in this 
country to fight in the British army in the Crimean war. This 
led, during the following year, to the dismissal, by the presi- 
dent, of the British minister at Washington and the British 
consuls at New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. 

649. What boundary trouble did we have with Mexico? 

A dispute over the northern boundary of Chihuahua threat- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



117 



ened war in 1853. It was settled by the purchase from Mex- 
ico of some 45,000 square miles of the territory now included 
in New Mexico and Arizona. As the treaty — signed Dec. 30, 
1853 — was negotiated by Gen. James Gadsden, minister to 
Mexico, the cession is known as the Gadsden Purchase. The 
price paid was $10,000,000. 

650. What Indian wars occurred during this period? 

A war between the settlers and Indians of Washington and 
Oregon territories. In December, 1855, a desperate battle was 
fought on the Walla Walla, the town of Seattle was attacked 
soon afterwards and saved only by the presence of a war ship 
in the harbor. In the following March the inhabitants of 
Cascades City were massacred, and hostilities with frequent 
loss of life prolonged till August, 1856. 

651. What was the condition of domestic affairs? 

The country was prosperous and in the settled states agi- 
tated only by the discussion of the slavery question. The 
growth of the banking business had so far increased that a 
clearing house was opened in New York city. 

652. What is a clearing-house? 

A city bank daily receives, on deposit and for collection, 
large numbers of checks and drafts on other banks in the 
same city. For convenience these are sent, not to the banks 
drawn upon, but to a clearing-house where each bank is daily 
credited with its claims on other banks and debited with the 
checks presented against itself, the balance for or against it 
being paid in money. (Clearing houses are now maintained 
in all large cities. The business done in the New York 
house — as the monetary center of the union — exceeds that of 
any other clearing house in the world.) 

653. What other feature of business life originated at this 
time? 

The industrial exhibition. In 1851 there had been held in 
London a "World's Fair," the first of its kind, and in 1853 a 
similar exhibition was opened in New York city. 

654. What had been done to facilitate transportation? 
Railroads extended to the chief cities of the union, and 

wagon roads and bridges were built so that transportation was 
greatly facilitated. Some large railroad bridges were built, 
notably the bridge over the Niagara river in 1848 and over the 
Mississippi river at Minneapolis in 1856. 

655. What was the state of politics in 1856? 



n8 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The condition of Kansas, which the Kansas-Nebraska bill 
had made literally a battle ground for the "free or slave state" 
question, had roused party feeling to its highest pitch. The 
president sought to satisfy both parties and as a result satisfied 
neither. Each party approached the campaign of 1856 de- 
termined to put forward a thorough-going partisan, who would 
at least concede nothing to the opposition. 

656. Who were the Democratic candidates? 

James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge. (Buchanan 
was considered the best Northern candidate, and a Southern 
man would have had, little chance of carrying the Northern 
Democratic states.) 

657. Who did the Republicans nominate? 

Gen. John C. Fremont, senator from California, and Wm. 
L. Dayton, ex-senator from New Jersey. 

658. What other candidates were nominated? 

The American or Know-nothing party nominated ex-Presi- 
dent Fillmore and Andrew J. Donelson of Tennessee. These 
candidates sought the support of both Democrats and Repub- 
licans, on the plea that the slavery question should not be 
made a party one. 

659. What was the result of the election? 

Buchanan and Breckenridge received 174 of the 296 elec- 
toral votes and were elected. Fremont and Dayton received 
114 votes all from Northern states. Fillmore and Donelson 
carried the state of Maryland and received eight electoral votes. 

660. What can you say of the successful candidates? 
James Buchanan was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was 

born in 1791; was a lawyer by profession, but had been in 
public life as congressman, member of the cabinet or foreign 
minister, since his election to congress in 1821. Breckinridge 
was a man of 35 (the legal age), a "favorite son" of Kentucky 
but popular throughout the south. 



chapter xvii. — Buchanan's administration. 
661. What effect did Buchanan's election have on sectional 
politics? 

It tended to promote peace and quietness, as no change was 
possible for four years. The announcement, however, of the 
decision of the supreme court in the Dred Scott case, soon 
roused the fires of sectional animosity, and the disturbances in 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



119 



Kansas also gave occasion for political dispute and denuncia- 
tion. 

662. What was the Dred Scott case? 

Dred Scott, a Missouri negro slave, sued for his freedom and 
that of his wife, on the ground that they had been taken by 
their master into Illinois and Wisconsin, and there held as 
slaves, during a long period of residence, contrary to the state 
laws. 

663. Give the history of the case. 

Had Dred Scott sued while still a resident of Illinois, he 
would have been set free, and the lower court in Missouri, in 
accordance with common practice, recognized this fact, and 
decided in favor of the plaintiff. On appeal, the state court 
reversed the decision, holding that the slaves, by their volun- 
tary return to Missouri, forfeited their rights in the free states, 
and that Missouri was not bound, even by a spirit of comity, 
to carry into effect laws that were framed in a spirit of enmity 
to her own institutions. 

664. Did this decision settle the question ? 

Virtually it did. The case in itself afforded no ground for 
appeal to the federal supreme court and, whatever might there- 
after arise, there was little doubt that the supreme court would 
accept the decision of the Missouri court as to the status of 
the slaves under Missouri laws. However, the sale, soon after- 
ward, of Dred Scott and his wife to a citizen of another state, 
gave apparent ground for suing in a federal court,and — the de- 
cision there being adverse — for an appeal to the court at 
Washington. 

665. What was the final decision ? 

At first the majority of the judges decided to simply con- 
firm the decision of the lower court, on the ground that the 
decision of the state court was final, and an opinion on this 
ground was written by Judge Nelson. At a second meeting 
of the court this mode of dealing with the question was reject- 
ed, and March 6, 1857, the appeal of Dred Scott was refused 
on the ground of non-jurisdiction through constitutional 
limitation. 

-666. What prompted the court to do this? 

The desire to serve (as it thought) the public by giving a 
decision concerning the power of congress over slavery. Both 
parties had pledged themselves to acquiesce in the decision of 



1 20 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



the supreme court,* and the judges erroneously supposed that 
a voluntary interference would be as readily accepted as one 
extorted by the necessities of the case under consideration. 
667. Summarize the decision. 

The court held that the declaration of independence and the 
constitution of the United States did not include or refer to 
slaves otherwise than as property, and that, therefore, the 
right to interfere with slavery had never been delegated to 
the federal government. That slaves were not, and could 
not become, (even by emancipation) citizens of the United 
States, and hence could not sue in its courts. That the person- 
al question as to Dred Scott's freedom had been finally de- 
cided by the Missouri court. That the constitution of the 
United States, recognizing slaves as property only, pledges 
federal protection to the same as far as the legislative power 
of congress extends, and that hence all restrictive acts (like 
the Missouri compromise act of 1820) were unconstitutional, 
null and void. 

658. What became of Dred Scott and his wife? 

Txhey were set free May 26, 1857, by the free gift of their 
new owner, Taylor Blow, Esq. But the principles of the de- 
cision were entirely apart from its effect on the individual 
slaves. 

669. How was the decision received? 

With applause by the south and with indignation by 
the north. The Republicans declared the court had shown so 
great partisan bias that its opinions were not entitled to respect 
and they proposed to await a more favorable decision. (Once 
in possession of congress and the presidency, they would be 
able to influence the court — by the appointment of new 
judges — or, if necessary, to disregard its opinions.!) 

*In a speech at Galena, in 1856, Abraham Lincoln answering the 
argument that the proposed restoration of the Missouri compromise 
would be "unconstitutional," said : "I grant you that an unconstitutional 
act is not a law ; but I do not ask, and will not take, your construction of 
the constitution. The supreme court of the L T nited States is the tribunal 
to decide such a question, and we will submit to its decisions. " 

f'The Dred Scott decision received no respect after Lincoln became 
president, and without reversal by the court was utterly disregarded. 
When President Lincoln, in 1861, authorized the denial "of the right of 
habeas corpus to persons arrested on the charge of treason, Chief Justice 
Taney delivered an opinion in the case of John Merryman, denying the 
president's power to suspend the writ, declaring that congress only was 
competent to do it. The executive department paid no attention to the 
decision, and congress, at the ensuing session, added its sanction to the 
suspension."— Blaine's "Twenty Years of Congress," p. 137. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



670. What was the political effect of the decision? 

It increased the power of the Republicans at the North, and 
so far weakened the Northern Democrats that they hesitated 
to endorse the decision lest their chances of carrying elections 
should be diminished. The attempt of Douglas and his follow- 
ers to modify and explain away the offensive points of the 
Dred Scott decision, led to an open breach between the North- 
ern and Southern wings of the Democratic party. This breach 
was widened by the action of Northern Democrats in opposing 
the policy of the administration in dealing with Kansas. 

671. What was the policy of the administration? 

To afford protection to slavery in Kansas and, as a party 
measure, to encourage the territory to become a slave state. 
President Pierce had appointed, in succession, three Northern 
Democrats to be governor of the territory, but these had failed 
to maintain order. Buchanan chose Robert J. Walker of 
Mississippi, ex-secretary of the treasury, and a man of great 
influence with the party. The purpose of the appointment 
was to secure a fair settlement of the question, according to 
the wishes of the majority of the settlers of Kansas. 

672. Was such a fair settlement made? 

No; the administration found (to its surprise) that on a 
fair vote Kansas was opposed to slavery. (This was but 
natural. Slave owners generally hesitated to risk the loss of 
their slaves by taking them to Kansas. Hence the bonafide 
emigration from the siave states was greatly lessened, and the 
pro-slavery party felt that the race for settlement was not a 
fair one.) 

673. Under the circumstances, what could the slave-holders 
hope to do? 

They hoped, by fair means or foul, to establish slavery laws 
and maintain them long enough to encourage emigration 
from the south, and discourage or drive away settlers from 
the north. While there was probably no conspiracy in ex- 
press terms, there was a tacit understanding that this was to be 
the party policy, and the president seems to have consented to 
it. Gov. Walker, however, refused to countenance the pro- 
ceeding and resigned his office. 

674. What was the Lecompton constitution ? 

Rival legislatures existed in Kansas, and the pro-slavery 
party called a constitutional convention at Lecompton in 
1857. The proceeding was considered illegal and the free- 



122 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



state men generally ignored it. The result was the framing 
and adoption by the people (or, at least, by the pro-slavery men 
who voted) of a constitution authorizing slavery. 

675. Was the state admitted with this constitution? 

No ; the president recommended its admission and the bill 
therefore passed the senate, but, owing to the bolt of the 
Northern Democrats, it failed to pass the house. Senator 
Douglas fiercely opposed it as a violation of the right of the 
territory to settle the slavery question for themselves. 

676. What was Douglas's attitude toward the Kansas ques- 
tion? • 

He had at first maintained the right of the territory to ex- 
clude slavery by lav/ — in accordance with the "Squatter Sov- 
ereignty" doctrine. The Dred Scott decision denied this right 
to the territory, and Douglas, while nominally accepting the 
decision, adroitly evaded it by declaring that Kansas could 
still exclude slavery by "unfriendly legislation." 

677. What did he mean by "unfriendly legislation?" 

He said that the constitutional right to hold slaves in a ter- 
ritory must, to be effective, be supported by police regulations 
and local legislation, and these the territorial government 
might either grant or withhold, according to the wish of a 
majority of the people. As might have been expected, this 
"Freeport doctrine" as it was called, was denounced at the 
south, where the duty of congress to protect the slave-holder 
in the territories was generally believed in. 

678. How was the Lecompton constitution disposed of? 

It was re-submitted to the people of Kansas, who rejected it 
by a majority of over 10,000. The admission of the state was 
postponed three years but the exclusion of slavery was made 
certain. 

679. Was Kansas not admitted during Buchanan's admin- 
istration ? 

Yes, but not till the very end of the presidential term, after 
six states had withdrawn from the union. 

680. What other states were admitted during this admin- 
istration ? 

Minnesota and Oregon, the former May 11, 1858, and the 
latter Feb. 12, 1859. 

681. Give the previous history of these states. 

Kansas was formed from Indian Territory, a part of the 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



123 



original Louisiana country. It was organized as a territory 
in 1854 and, at its first census in i860, showed a population 
of 107,206. (It was admitted to the union Jan. 29, 1861.) 
Minnesota was first settled by the French in 1805. Acquired 
by the United States through the Louisiana purchase, its 
settlement wa£ delayed by regard for the rights of Indian 
tribes. It was organized as a territory in 1S49, and in the cen- 
sus of i860 showed a population of 172,023. Oregon was ac- 
quired by settlement and made a territory in 1848. Its popu- 
lation in i860 was 52,465. 

682. Whence the names of these states? 

Kansas is an Indian word said to signify "Smoky Water." 
Minnesota, which is also an Indian name, means "Whitish 
Water." Oregon is also on record as an Indian name, and is 
interpreted "River of the West." It has, however, another 
derivation that is at least plausible, for we are told that the 
original Spanish settlers nicknamed an Indian tribe "Big 
Ears" — Oregons, — and so came to apply the name to the 
country. 

683. What was the condition of the American people at 
this time? 

A financial panic had occurred in 1857, Dut though the loss 
to individuals was great, the growth of the country was 
scarcely checked. The census of i860 showed a wonderful 
increase in the wealth of the nation, then estimated at over 
sixteen billions. A low tariff had built up foreign trade and, 
in the size of her merchant-navy, America was surpassed only 
by Great Britain. 

684. How about the manufacturing interests? 

Free trade had borne hardly upon some of them, but owing 
to the number of valuable inventions made in America, and 
to the extent of her agricultural and mineral resources, manu- 
facturing as a whole had not declined. 

685. How had the mineral resources of the country been 
developed ? 

Many new iron and copper mines had been opened, and 
coal had been found in all parts of the country. Gold and 
silver mines were opened in the Rocky Mountains, and in 
Pennsylvania petroleum was discovered in 1859. 

686. What remarkable work was attempted early in this 
period ? 

The establishment of submarine telegraphic commun- 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



ication with England. An Atlantic cable was laid with great 
difficulty and the first messages were sent Aug. 16, 1858. The 
cable, however, soon failed to work, and communication 
ceased till 1866. 

687. Note some special evidences of progress in America. 

The use of labor-saving machinery on farms and in factor- 
ies ; the construction of parks and waterworks in cities, the 
growth of American literature, and the success of literary 
magazines, the generous support given to public schools and 
public libraries, were all special evidences of the growth of 
civilization. 

688. What change had been made in the policing of cities? 
The old-time watchmen were discarded and a system of 

uniformed police was established. (This system had origin- 
ated in London where Sir Robert Peel had reformed the 
police as far back as 1829 — whence the cant term "peelers" as 
applied to police.) 

689. In what part of this country were these improvements 
chiefly to be found? 

In the north. Slavery had retarded the growth of the 
south, by discouraging the application of intellect to labor 
and business management. Many southerners saw this (and 
most are now willing to admit it) but at that time most south- 
ern men attributed the prosperity of the north to the unprin- 
cipled shrewdness of the "Yankees." 

690. What trouble was caused by the Mormons of Utah? 
The Mormons of Salt Lake City, in 1857, refused obedience 

to the United States, and federal troops being sent against 
them, they threatened war. In 1858 matters were adjusted, 
and the Mormons, acknowledging the authority of the pres- 
ident and congress, received amnesty. 

691. What were the signs of an approaching crisis in the 
affairs of the union? 

The open agitation in favor of secession at the south, the 
growth of the Republican party and the open hostility shown 
toward slavery, and the inability of northern and southern 
Democrats to longer work together for the maintenance of 
existing conditions. 

692. How long had the agitation for secession continued? 
Since the election of 1856. Before that the right of se- 
cession was generally claimed for the states by the southern 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



political leaders, but with no expectation of a division of the 
anion. The proposal that all the slave states withdraw from 
the union until assured of their safety from anti-slavery legis- 
lation, began to be regarded with favor only after the large 
vote given to Fremont showed the possibility of Republican 
success. 

693. Was the establishment of a southern confederacy part 
of the scheme? 

It was suggested, but it was not an essential part of the 
scheme. The idea of a permanent division of the union was 
not favored at the south, but the flattering suggestion that by 
the threat of withdrawal "the south could coerce the north" 
was received with great favor. 

694. What did the south demand as the price of its remain- 
ing in the union? 

Security for slavery. Many southerners demanded the 
protection of slavery in the territories and even the annexation 
of slave territories (such as Cuba), and a few wished also the 
revival of the slave trade, but these were declared essential 
only in so far as they were necessary to maintain the equality 
of the free and slave sections of the union, and so provide 
for the security of slave property. 

695. Was the north disposed to concede anything to the 
demands of the south? 

No; concessions to slavery were very unpopular at the 
north. June 17, 1858, Abraham Lincoln declared that the 
union could not permanently endure half slave and half free, 
and October 25 of the same year, W. H. Seward declared 
that an "irrepressible conflict" existed between slavery and 
freedom. Though the Republicans confined their demands 
to the restriction of slavery, they did not and could not con- 
sistently guarantee the perpetuation of slavery within the 
boundaries of the slave states. 

696. Could not this guarantee have been given by North- 
ern Democrats? 

No ; for the northern Democrats, in their effort to com- 
pete with Republicans in the northern states, were forced to 
follow their lead in restricting slavery. This necessity be- 
came very apparent in the campaign preceding the state and 
congressional elections of 1858. 

697. What memorable debate occurred during this cam- 
paign ? 



126 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The debate between Lincoln and Douglas in the Illinois 
state-election campaign. The legislature to be elected was 
to choose a United States senator, and Senator Douglas and 
Representative Lincoln were the candidates of their respective 
parties for the position. 

698. What was the result of the debate? 

The Democrats obtained a majority in the legislature and 
re-elected Senator Douglas. The debate, however, affected 
the political situation beyond the state borders and led to 
Republican success in i860. 

699. How was the situation affected? 

The south lost all faith in Senator Douglas and his fol- 
lowing of northern Democrats, and determined to enter the 
next presidential campaign with a pro-slavery candidate 
backed by a threat to secede in case of his defeat. (Lincoln's 
declaration that he w r ould make it impossible for Douglas to 
be both senator and president was not an empty threat, for 
if Douglas had sought by pro-slavery utterances to conciliate 
the south, he would doubtless have defeated his party in Illi- 
nois.) 

700. What event, in 1859, seemed to justify the opinion the 
south had formed with regard to northern anti-slavery feel- 
ing? 

The John Brown raid at Harper's Ferry. As a matter of 
fact, few northern men knew of the plot, though not a few 
condoned it after it was attempted, but the south accepted it 
as a sample of the treatment they were to expect from north- 
ern Republicans. 

701. What were Brown's actions and what his purpose? 

John Brown, a free-state leader in the Kansas troubles, con- 
ceived the idea of fomenting insurrection among southern 
slaves, with a view both to the punishment of the slave owners, 
and the hastening of emancipation. Accustomed to aid from 
northern abolitionists in the Kansas struggle, he hoped for a 
similar outburst of anti-slavery fervor when the slaves should 
be at war with their masters. With a few followers, but 
plentifully supplied with weapons and money by northern 
accomplices,* Brown attacked and captured the United States 
armory at Harper's Ferry Oct. 16, 1859. Some fighting and 
bloodshed followed, but with little trouble the insurrection 



*As to Brown's accomplices at the north see biography of Lincoln, "by 
Nicolay and Hay, page 519 of the Century for August 1887. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



127 



was put down. Brown was captured and brought to trial and 
in spite, of petitions from the north in his behalf, suffered the 
penalty of his crime Dec. 2, 1859 ) 

702. What was the political effect of the incident? 
Owing to a prompt repudiation of sympathy with Brown 

on the part of leading Republicans, the effect on northern 
politics was slight, but at the south the incident gave a point 
to the secession argument that the anti- slavery party were 
unprincipled, regarding neither law nor justice in their 
effort to injure the south. 

703. When did the presidential campaign of i860 begin? 
Preparations for the contest were made long beforehand, 

The first formal movement was the calling of the Dem- 
ocratic convention to meet at Charleston, S. C, April 23, 
i860. The situation was felt to be critical, and the public 
looked forward to the meeting with eagerness, not unmixed 
with apprehension. The convention was thoroughly rep- 
resentative of the party, the Democratic leaders of all sec- 
tions having sought the position of delegates in order to have 
a voice in the expected "compromise" that was needed to 
unite northern and southern Democrats. 

704. What were the conflicting elements? 

The southern men, presuming too greatly on the efficacy of 
their threat to secede, came to the meeting prepared to yield 
nothing. They demanded that the doctrine of "popular 
sovereignty" set forth by Douglas and his followers at the 
north, should be condemned, and that "federal protection to 
slavery in the territories" should become the watchword of 
the party north as well as south. To this the northerners 
could not consent without sacrificing both their principles and 
party chances in the north. They proposed that the duty 
and power of congress to protect slavery in the territories, 
should be left to the federal supreme court. Even this offer 
represented a concession, for they thought that the question 
of slavery should, in all fairness, be left to the decision of the 
settlers in the territories. 

705. What was the result of the conflict? 

A split in the convention on the slavery "plank" in the 
platform. Even though this had been compromised, the 
sections could not have agreed on the nomination. The 
south would not accept Douglas, whom the delegates from 
the north believed to be the only prominent man who could 
be elected. Their very insistance on this necessity to con- 



128 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



ciliate northern anti-slavery feeling, only roused the ire of 
the southern members. As a consequence, when the north- 
erners, by a majority vote, substituted their non-committal 
slavery plank for the one offered by the south, the delegates 
from seven southern states withdrew from the convention. 

706. What effect did this have ? 

It left the Douglas Democrats in a majority, but, accord- 
ing to rule, a two- thirds vote of the entire convention (as 
originally composed) was necessary to nominate, and under this 
rule no agreement could be reached. After fifty-seven ineffect- 
ual ballots, the convention adjourned to meet at Baltimore 
June 18. 

707. What did the seceding delegations do? 

The delegations from Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, 
Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and Delaware, which had with- 
drawn from the convention, held a separate meeting, adopted 
a platform, and adjourned to meet in Richmond the second 
Monday in June. They met at that date as proposed, but 
again adjourned to await the result of the Baltimore convention. 

708. What was this result? 

When the Democratic convention met at Baltimore, new 
delegations presented themselves from the states left without 
representation by the bolt at Charleston, and these new dele- 
gations were admitted. This gave occasion for a second bolt 
on the part of southern sympathizers. The result was that 
the main convention, now chiefly composed of northern 
Democrats, nominated Senator Douglas of Illinois, and the 
bolters in session at Baltimore and at Richmond put forward 
Vice-president Breckinridge of Kentucky. 

709. Who were the candidates for vice-president? 

The Douglas convention nominated Senator Benjamin 
Fitzpatrick of Alabama, but he declined the honor, and the 
executive committee substituted Judge Herschel V. Johnson 
of Georgia. The Breckinridge convention put up Senator 
Joseph Lane of Oregon, a representative of a free state, but 
an extreme pro-slavery politician. 

710. Meanwhile, what other conventions had been held? 
Those of the Constitutional-Union and Republican parties, 

the former meeting at Baltimore May 9, and the latter at 
Chicago May 16, 

711. What candidates were put forward by these con- 
ventions? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



I29 



John Bell of Tennessee, and Edward Everett of Massachus- 
etts, were nominated at Baltimore; Abraham Lincoln of 
Illinois, and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, were nominated at 
Chicago. 

712. What was the Constitutional-Union platform? 

It* refused to formulate one. The convention passed a 
resolution denouncing all platforms as strife-provoking, and 
simply endorsed "the constitution, the union, and the en- 
forcement of the laws." The arguments put forward by the 
party were that the slavery question should be dealt with 
dispassionately and without sectional strife. It was of more 
consequence, they thought, that justice should be done and 
the union preserved, than that any particular interests should 
be served, or any particular party views carried out in settling 
the slavery question. 

713. What was the basis of the Republican platform? 

Its animating spirit was a belief and declaration that the 
institution of slavery was wrong in morals and detrimental 
to society ; its avowed policy was to restrict slavery to its 
present limits in the states where it existed by virtue of local 
institutions and laws. It denied "the authority of congress, 
of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal 
existence to slavery in any territory of the United States."* 

714. What was the character of the campaign which fol- 
lowed ? 

It was a savage contest between factions. The temper of 
all parties was bitter and intolerant. It is noteworthy that all 
the candidates made loud professions of devotion to the 
union, but (unless in the case of Bell and Everett) scouted 
the idea of party sacrifice to ensure the union. This glorifica- 
tion of the union was simply made an excuse for the denuncia- 
tion of all other factions as "traitorous" in feeling and pur> 
pose. 

715. What was the result of the contest? 



*In explanation of this remarkable denial of authority, reference 
should be made to Wm. H. Seward's speech in the senate in 1850, deny- 
ing the arbitrary power of congress over the national domain. "The 
constitution regulates our stewardship," he said, and so far the south- 
erners agreed with him. * * * "But there is a higher law 
than the constitution which regulates our authority over the domain 
and devotes it to the same noble purposes (i. e. union, justice, defense, 
welfare and liberty.)" It was with reference to this "higher law" that 
the Chicago convention denied congressional authority to promote 
slavery, and (by implication) the right even of the southern state legisla- 
tures to defend and support it. 



130 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The election of Lincoln and Hamlin by a majority of the 
electoral vote of the states, and a plurality of the popular 
vote. The electoral vote stood: For Lincoln, 180; Breckin- 
ridge, 72 ; Bell, 36 ; Douglas, 1 2. The popular vote stood : Lin- 
coln, 1,866,352; Douglas, 1,475,157; Breckinridge, 845,763; 
Bell, 589,581. 

716. Geographically, how was the vote distributed? 

The south divided its vote between Breckinridge and Bell. 
The latter carried Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
the former all the rest of the slave states, with the exception 
of Missouri, the only slave state that gave its vote to Douglas. 
Lincoln and Douglas divided the popular vote in the free 
states, but Lincoln secured the electoral vote of all but New 
Jersey. (The result showed the wisdom of the Chicago con- 
vention in opposing Douglas — the certain choice of the Balti- 
more convention — by a candidate from the west. Had Sew- 
ard of New York been the nominee, Douglas would, in all 
probability, have carried enough western states to throw 
the election into the hands of congress, a body greatly dis- 
posed to conciliate the south.) 

717. What can you say of the successful candidates? 
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky in 1809. He 

emigrated, with his parents, to Indiana and afterwards to 
Illinois. Here he worked as a farm-hand, rail-splitter, and 
Mississippi river boatman. He received only the rudiments 
of an education, but educated himself, studied law, and be- 
gan its practice. He was elected (as a Whig) to the state 
legislature, and also to congress. Hannibal Hamlin was born 
in Maine in 1809. He became a printer by trade and a law- 
yer by profession; served in the legistature and in both 
houses of congress, as a Democrat ; became a Republican and 
was elected in 1856, governor of Maine, and afterward United 
States senator. 



chapter xviii. — Lincoln's administration. 

718. What was the chief event of Lincoln's administration? 
The attempted secession of the southern states. (This 

secession movement began before Lincoln's inaguration, 
but properly belongs to his term of office, the secession being 
avowedly in consequence of his election.) 

719. Was the secession the result of a conspiracy? 
Partly so; there is no little evidence of a concerted at- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



tempt to force a dissolution of the union. The conspiracy, 
however, was not general and included comparatively few 
of the political leaders of the south, most of whom dreaded 
the attempted revolution, and sought to avert it. 

720. How were these opponents of secession led to become 
its advocates? 

The campaign of i860 became (as the probability of Re- 
publican success became apparent) a threat against Lincoln. 
Southern leaders vehemently protested that the south would 
not — could not, submit to Lincoln's installation, and on that 
ground urged the election of Breckinridge, Bell or Douglas 
(according to the party preference of the speaker), and 
hence most southern men found themselves committed to 
the necessity of secession, and unable to oppose it. 

721. How had secession always been regarded at the south? 
As one of the reserved rights of the states. Whatever 

view the north may have taken, the south had never under- 
stood the federal compact to be indissoluble. The right of a 
state to secede at will seems to have been generally believed 
in, but it was only after the north became the more powerful 
and the south thought itself oppressed and aggrieved, that 
the secession doctrine became peculiarly southern. 

722. In what form was the same doctrine held at the north? 

In the form of a denial of the right of the federal govern- 
ment to coerce a state. (The New England federalists in 
1812-14, and the Abolitionists in 1840-50, were the only two 
classes that threatened to dissolve the union by withdrawing 
from it; but the secession of southern states was always con- 
sidered possible.) The limitation of the federal authority was 
based on a literal construction of the constitution and was 
not a party principle.* Of course, if coercion was unlaw- 



*As a sample of the views held even by Republicans who afterwards 
earnestly advocated the war and vehemently denounced both secession- 
ists and Copperheads, we quote from the speech of Benjamin F. Wade, 
senator from Ohio, delivered in the senate Dec. 4, 1S56 : "If they [the 
southern members] do not feel interested in upholding this union— if it 
really trenches on their rights— if it endangers their institutions to such 
an extent that they cannot feel secure under it— if their interests are 
violently assailed by means of this union, I am not one of those who ex- 
pect that they will long continue under it. I am not one of those who 
would ask them to continue in such a union. It would be doing violence 
to the platform of the party to which I belong. We have adopted the 
old declaration of independence as the basis of our political movements, 
which declares that anv people, when their government ceases to pro- 
tect their rights, when it is so subverted from the true purposes of gov- 
ernment as to oppress them, have the right to recur to fundamental prin- 
ciples, and, if need be, destroy the government under which they live, 



132 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



ful, secession was permissible, subject to the penalty of 
the disapproval of the righteous. 

723. What state was ihe first to secede? 

South Carolina. As soon as Lincoln's election was made 
certain, this state called a convention which met at Charles- 
ton, Dec. 20, i860, and declared that the union between 
South Carolina and the other states established by the 
constitution, was at an end, and that the state was therefore 
independent. 

724. What action was taken in other states? 
Conventions were called in the lower tier of cotton state? 

and Mississippi seceded Jan. 8,1861; Alabama and Florida, 
Jan, 11; Georgia, Jan, 19; Louisiana, Jan. 26; and Texas, 
Feb. 1. 

725. Were the people of these states unanimously in favor 
of secession? 

By no means; the movement was strongly opposed, and 
many tricks and devices were thought necessary to carry 
the states for secession. Hence many people believed that 
the majority were not in favor of the movement. But it 
was a period when men, both north and south, changed their 
mi ads rapidly. In a few months the union sentiment at 
the south was virtually extinguished. 

726. What caused this great change of feeling? 

Natural sympathy with fellow-countrymen, usually styled 
patriotism. This natural human weakness — which we extol 
as a virtue, or denounce as a vice, according to its relation 
to ourselves — begins at home. Intellectual patriotism, which 
often implies constraint of natural feeling, is an acquired 
virtue, and not the patriotism the poets praise. 



and to erect on its ruins, another more conducive to their welfare. I 
hold that they have this right. I will not blame any people for exercis- 
ing it, whenever they think the contingency has come. 1 certainly shall 
be the advocate of that same doctrine whenever I find that the princi- 
ples of this government have become so oppressive to the section to which 
J belong, that a free people ought not longer to endure it. You will not 
then find me backward in being the advocate of disunion ; but that con- 
tingency never having come, I have never yet opened my mouth in op- 
position to the union. * * * I hope the union will continue 
forever. I see nothing at present which I think should dissolve it ; but 
if other gentlemen see it, 1 say again that they have the same interest 
in maintaining this union, in my judgment, that we of the north have. 
If they think they have not, be it so. You cannot forcibly hold men in 
this union ; for the attempt to do so, it seems to me, wouv subvert the 
first principles of the government under which we live." 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



1 33 



727. How was the north prepared to deal with secession? 
The government was at first paralyzed by indecision. 

President Buchanan was strongly opposed to the disruption 
of the union, but as a Democrat he laid the blame largely at 
the door of the Republican agitators against slavery, and 
could only advise concessions to the south such as the north 
was in no mood to consider, much less to grant. He also, 
in his annual message to congress, encouraged the south by 
denying the right of the federal government to make war on 
the seceding states. 

728. What further checked government action ? 

Division in the president's cabinet. The northern mem- 
bers opposed the secession movement and advised coercion, 
but the southern members of the cabinet were ardent seces- 
sionists and did not scruple to use their official power and 
influence in its favor. * The result of this conflict of opinion 
was delay, awaiting the action of congress. 

729. What action was taken by congress? 

None ; the debates were long and earnest, but no agreement 
was possible until the first seven states had seceded and their 
representatives had withdrawn from congress. 

730. In the meantime, what change had occurred in the 
policy of the administration? 

As the work of secession progressed, the president seemed 
to awake to the duty of maintaining the government and 
turning it over unimpaired to his successor. The southern 
members withdrew from his cabinet. Gen. Cass of Mich- 
igan, secretary of state, also resigned, but on the ground that 
the president was neglecting to enforce the laws at the south. 
Under the influence of Judge Black of Pennsylvania — who 
left the attorney general's office to succeed Gen. Cass — the 
president re-organized his cabinet in favor of the northern 
view of the situation, and proposed (to quote from his second 
message to congress, Jan. 8, 1861), to "collect the public 
revenues and protect public property" — at the south — "as 
far as might be practicable under existing laws." 



*The action of Messrs. Floyd, secretary of war ; Trescott, assistant 
secretary of state ; Thompson, secretary of the interior, and Cobb, secre- 
tary of the treasury, can only be excused on the ground that men will 
do worse things for their party and their country (as they regard it) than 
they will for their own profit. The chief culprit was the president, who, 
from mere weakness, sutfered men to remain in his cabinet who were 
deliberately engaged in weakening the federal power 

I 



134 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN, 



731. Did this imply "coercion?" 

Inasmuch as it implied the right and duty of the executive 
to put down, by military force if necessary, all opposition to 
the federal officers in the discharge of their duties,itdid imply 
"coercion," — and was, indeed, exactly the same line of policy 
as that avowed by Lincoln at the beginning of his adminis- 
tration. 

732. What preparations were made by the south to carry 
out its programme? 

The seceding states sent delegates to a convention at 
Montgomery, Ala., and there, Feb. 18, a southern confeder- 
acy was formed, with Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as its 
president, and A. H. Stephens of Georgia as its vice-pres- 
ident. The government thus established prepared to resist 
any attempt to enforce the federal laws in the seceded states. 

733- What was the condition of things in the Charleston 
harbor? 

Matters were approaching a crisis in the harbor of Charles- 
ton, S. C, owing to the demand of the state government 
for the surrender of the forts commanding the harbor, then 
in possession of federal troops. These defensive positions 
had, it was claimed, been ceded to the federal government 
only for protection against foreign enemies, and now that the 
union was dissolved, they reverted by right to the original 
grantor. Under Buchanan's new policy, the forts must be 
held till their surrender was warranted by act of congress. 
To this the state agreed, but demanded that no reinforce- 
ments should be sent, or other preparations made with a view 
to balking the determination of the state to regain possession 
of the forts. 

734. How was this demand met? 

It was not denied, but to the indignation of the people of 
Charleston, Major Anderson, the commander of the small 
force stationed at Charleston, was allowed to entrench him- 
self in Fort Sumter and make preparations to defend his 
position. This betokened want of confidence in the states' 
assurance that the forts would not be seized by violence pend- 
ing negotiations, and it also made it possible for the United 
States to defend this fort in case congress refused to authorize 
its surrender. As a consequence, when the United States 
steamer, Star of the West, was sent to carry supplies to 
the fort, it was fired on by the South Carolinian forces 
and driven from the harbor. 

t 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



735. How did the other states respect United States prop- 
erty ? 

In most cases, federal property, such as forts, arsenals and 
custom houses, was seized in the name of the state, and this 
even before there was any attempt made to interfere with 
and obstruct the United States mails. When Lincoln's ad- 
ministration actually came into power, the government prop- 
erty at the south had nearly all been either seized by violence 
or surrendered by the faint-hearted officials in charge. 

736. What was the declared policy of the new adminis- 
tration ? 

In taking possession of the government March 4, 1861, 
Lincoln announced no violent change of policy. Yet there 
was a decided change in the government's manner in deal- 
ing with the south. Buchanan had (after a brief interval of 
weakness) maintained the rights of the national government 
for the time being. Lincoln was forced t > declare a more 
permanent policy. In doing so, he sought to conciliate the 
south, without conceding anything to the claims of the seces- 
sionists. He should, he declared, hold the federal property 
in the southern states, continue the transportation and dis- 
tribution of the mails and the collection of the tariff duties 
at southern ports. - All this he would do without provoking 
strife, and, in the interest of peace, would forbear to do 
"everything without which it was believed possible to keep 
the government on foot." 

737. Was this policy a wise one? 

It was wise only with reference to its effect on the north- 
ern mind. The seceded states no longer contemplated re- 
entering the union. Furthermore, they had formed a con- 
federacy and could no longer allow the federal government 
(of the other states) to exercise its functions within their 
boundaries. A peaceable reunion between the sections was 
really impossible, but the north was not yet convinced, and 
the border states were still hesitating over the question of 
secession, so that Lincoln was wise to avoid anything that 
might precipitate a crisis. 

738. Who formed the president's cabinet at this time? 
The new cabinet, appointed March 5, was as follows: 

secretary of state, Wm. H. Seward, of New York; secretary 
of the treasury, Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio; secretary of war, 
Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania; secretary of the navy, 
Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; secretary of the interior, 



136 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana; attorney general, Edward Bates, 
of Missouri; postmaster general, Montgomery Blair, *of 
Maryland. 

739. What can you say of this cabinet ? 

Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates had been Lincoln's 
rivals for the Republican nomination, and this fact seems to 
have recommended them to his favor. Lincoln desired 
above all things to unite his party and the north generally. 
With this view he sought also to influence New England by 
the appointment of Welles, and Indiana and Maryland by 
the appointment of Smith and Blair. His selections, how- 
ever, gave little satisfaction to Republican leaders, and the 
cabinet was severely criticised. 

740. What were the grounds of criticism? 

Against Seward little could be said, but Chase was de- 
clared an old time Democrat, whose free-trade affiliations 
unfitted him to administer the treasury department in con- 
formity with the high-protective policy of the Republicans. 
Cameron was regarded (outside his own state) as a political in- 
triguer with no sound claims to statesmanship.* Welles — 
recommended by Vice President Hamlin — and Smith were 
declared obscure and insignificant. Blai% was a Democrat, 
and Bates an opponent of abolition. It was noted that Lin- 
coln's cabinet contained no such "absolute and strong de- 
fenders of the union" as Dix, Holt, and Stanton, who were in 
Buchanan's cabinet.f 

741. How did this cabinet wish to .deal with the seceded 
states? 

Of the cabinet only one, — Montgomery Blair, — seems to 
have been prepared for resolute action. The first question 
brought before the cabinet was concerning the provisioning 
and reinforcement of Major Anderson at Fort Sumter. Five 
of the cabinet advised against the measure ; only two, Chase 



*It is noteworthy that Lincoln, after offering a cabinet position to 
Cameron, withdrew the offer and was finally induced to make the ap- 
pointment only because Pennsylvania insisted on a cabinet position. 
She claimed the treasury "for the promotion of her individual prosper- 
ity," [See Centurij, vol. 35, p. 422.] It is also to be noted that the pre- 
dictions of the opponents of Cameron seem to have been justified, and 
that he was forced to resign in January, 1862, 

f'The extreme men in the Republican party, of the type of Benjamin 
F. Wade [see note to Question 722] and Owen Lovejoy, believed that the 
cabinet was so constituted as to insure what they termed a disgraceful 
surrender to the south."— Blaine's "Twenty Years in Congress," 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



!37 



and Blair, were in favor of it, and Chase qualified his recom- 
mendation by explaining that he could not advise the action 
if he thought it involved the beginning of civil war. There 
was a general feeling that neither the north nor the border 
slave states would support a war,brought on by any aggressive 
act of the government, and the members of the cabinet were 
willing that Sumter should be abandoned to avoid bloodshed 
at that critical moment. 

742. Who decided the question at last? 

Lincoln himself. March 28, 1861, the cabinet considered the 
recommendation of the general of the army — Gen. Winfield 
Scott — that Fort Sumter be evacuated. To this they could 
not consent, but were equally loath to advise its reinforce- 
ment. Finally, Lincoln settled the matter by deciding that 
to abandon Fort Sumter would humiliate the north without 
conciliating the south, and that therefore provisions and 
reinforcements must be sent. Fair warning of this was sent 
to Gov. Pickens of South Carolina, and early in April a 
fleet was sent from New York to carry the plan into effect. 

743. How did the confederate government receive the 
news ? 

The confederate government — then at Montgomery, Ala., 
had already prepared for war, and on learning of the decision 
of the government at Washington, it ordered that Fort 
(Sumter be attacked and reduced before the arrival of the 
expected fleet. 

744. Were these orders obeyed? 

Yes; April 12, iNdf* 'Qen. Beauregard, then in command 
at Charleston, began the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and 
after a fire of thirty hours the fort surrendered. Major 
Anderson and the garrison were allowed to simply evacuate 
the fort and depart for the north "with the honors of war," 
the confederates being well satisfied with their victory. (The 
United States forces still held Fort Pickens at Pensacola, 
and Key West, the southern point of Florida, within the 
limits of the confederacy, but these were considered of little 
importance compared w r ith Fort Sumter.; 

745. How was the attack on Sumter received at the north? 

It created intense excitement and indignation. The ma- 
jority at the north had been in an ague of irresolution over 
the question of coercing the seceded states, but it had no 
real fear of a war. April 15, President Lincoln called for 
75,000 volunteers to help put down the rebellion, and four 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



times that number were soon offered. Money was likewise 
freely offered, so that the administration felt fully supported 
in its course. 

746. What did congress do? 

Congress was not in session. The thirty-sixth congress 
had ended March 3, and the 37th, under ordinary con- 
ditions, would not convene till December. President Lin- 
coln summoned an extra session to meet July 4, and at this 
session all previous acts for the preservation of the union 
were fully endorsed. 

747. What effect did the course of the government have on 
the border slave states? 

These states were in sympathy with the confederacy, 
though they had not yet concluded to secede from the 
union. The preparations made by Lincoln to suppress the 
rebellion turned the tide of popular feeling against the 
union, and Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Ark- 
ansas seceded, and Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri seemed 
upon the verge of secession. 

748. How did the government proceed to subjugate the 
south ? 

The president proclaimed a blockade of southern ports. 
Armies of volunteers were quickly organized to hold dis- 
puted territory and attack the southern forces when advis- 
able. At first all these armies were under the command of 
Gen. Scott, but as the war progressed other commanders 
were advanced, and Scott retired. It was seen, moreover, 
that the advance by way of Virginia and that by way of 
the Mississippi valley were too distant to be included in the 
same campaign. 

749. Where did the fighting first begin? 

In what is now West Virginia. People of that section 
refused to follow their state out of the union, and had formed 
a state legislature and government of their own. To hold 
this territory, Gen. McClellan was sent with a force of 
Ohio troops, and, early in July, 1861, fought several battles, 
which resulted in driving the confederates out of the state. 

750. What was the next movement made? 

The army of the Potomac began a general advance in 
July, to attack the confederate army, posted at Manassas 
Junction. Here the battle of Bull Run was fought, and the 
northern troops suffered severe defeat. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



r 39 



751. What was the result of the rout at Bull Run? 

The union forces fell back completely demoralized to 
Washington, where they were reorganized and put in com- 
mand of McClellan, who spent the remainder of the year 
drilling his forces, fortifying Washington, and driving back 
the enemy to their old line of defense near Manassas Junc- 
tion. 

752. What movements were made at the west? 
Energetic action had been taken by the federal forces in 

Missouri, and the enemy were expelled from that state. 
Some movement was also made to attack posts on the Miss- 
issippi river. 

753. What movements were made by the navy? 

The navy was so far reduced at the beginning of the war, 
that when the president proclaimed a blockade of southern 
ports he had only three vessels with which to enforce it. 
New war ships and transports were soon set afloat, and in 
August, 1861, a naval force, with troops on board, attacked 
and captured Hatteras inlet and its fort, and from this point 
made war on the neighboring coast of North Carolina. Port 
Royal was also taken by a similar force and commissioned 
with federal troops, and an attempt was made to take posses- 
sion of the mouth of the Mississippi river. 

754. What were the movements of 1862? 

The first significant movement was that by Gen. Thomas 
which resulted in the battle of Mill Springs, January 20. 
The next was the campaign of Gen. Grant up the Tennessee 
valley, and the capture of forts Henry and Donelson. These 
movements compelled the confederate general, Albert Sidney 
Johnston, to retire from Kentucky and form a new line of de- 
fence along the Memphis and Charleston railroad. On this 
new line was afterwards fought the battle of Shiloh. West of 
the Mississippi river, Gen. Curtis crossed from Missouri to 
Arkansas and began driving the confederate forces from that 
state. The grand object of these campaigns was the freeing 
of the Mississippi to northern commerce, and in this the 
navy at New Orleans and the gunboats on the upper river 
did much to assist the land forces. New Orleans was taken 
on the 20th of April, and before the end of the year all the 
river posts with the exception of Vicksburg had been sub- 
dued. 

755. What was the state of affairs in Virginia ? 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



In Virginia there was almost constant fighting in 1862. 
McClellan took the greater part of the army of the Potomac 
down to the Yorktown peninsula, hoping by that means to 
reach and capture Richmond, then the confederate capital. 
His plans were foiled by the enemy and by the necessity of 
keeping forces between Lee's army and the city of Wash- 
ington. There was serious fighting in the peninsula cam- 
paign and the losses on both sides were about even, but 
before midsummer the entire plan of campaign was condemned 
by the authorities at Washington, and anew army, the army of 
Virginia, sent overland to Richmond under Gen. Pope. As 
both armies could not be adequately supported, McClellan 
was ordered to withdraw from the peninsula and return to 
the line of the Potomac. 

756. Was the campaign of the army under Pope more suc- 
cessful ? 

No; its flank was turned by Jackson and in the battles that 
followed near the old Bull Run battle ground, it was decidedly 
worsted, though he had by this time most of McClellan's 
army to reinforce him. The confederate forces were en- 
couraged to attempt the invasion of Maryland. 

757. What was done to prevent them? 

McClellan, who was now in charge of the army defend- 
ing Washington, pursued Lee and fought the battle of Antie- 
tam, which, though not a decided victory, served the pur- 
pose of one, for it forced Lee to return to Virginia. 

758. What other attempt was made to reach Richmond 
this year? 

Burnside was put in charge of the army after Antietam, 
and marched to Fredericksburg, intending to move from 
there straight for Richmond. He was, however, met by Lee 
and suffered a most serious defeat. 

759 What movements were made by the federal navy in 
1862? 

Besides the fighting on the Mississippi river, the navy had 
supported the campaign of the peninsula against Richmond, 
and had captured numerous islands and harbors along the 
coast, and made the work of blockading the southern ports 
much more efficient. The incident of the fight between the 
Monitor and Merrimac in Hampton Roads in March, 1862, 
gave great impetus to the building of iron-clad war vessels of 
p£l kinds. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



141 



760. What were the movements of 1863? 

The struggle continued in Virginia without definite ad- 
vantage to either side. At the west, the union armies were 
more successful. The capture of Vicksburg and the opera- 
tions in Arkansas and Tennessee, resulted in forcing the 
enemy away from the line of the Mississippi and dividing 
the territory of the confederacy into two parts. 

761. What battles were fought in the east? 

The battle of Chancellorsville, May 2 and 3, in which the 
army of the Potomac, under Gen. Hooker, was defeated, 
and the battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3, in which the 
confederate Gen. Lee was defeated, and his invasion of the 
north checked. These two battles were the decisive ones 
as far as the east was concerned, and no further movements 
of importance were made in the state of Virginia during that 
summer. 

762. What campaigns were fought at the west? 

There were, in 1863, four union armies at the west. One 
near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, under Rosecrans; another in 
northern Mississippi under Grant; a third in Louisiana under 
Banks, and a fourth in Arkansas. Grant led a campaign 
against Vicksburg and other fortified posts on the Mississippi, 
and succeeded July 4, in capturing not only Vicksburg 
but the beseiged army of Gen. Pemberton, numbering 37,- 
000 men. Banks co-operated in the work of capturing Fort 
Hudson. The Arkansas forces also co-operated by driving 
the small bands of the enemy away from the Mississippi 
river. Meanwhile, Rosecrans led a campaign in an entirely 
different direction, aiming to crush the rebel army under 
Gen. Bragg, then in eastern Tennessee. 

763. What battles did Rosecrans fight? 

By skillful maneuvering, Rosecrans drove Bragg down to 
the Tennessee river near Chattanooga, and there fought the 
battle of Chickamauga, in which he was defeated. After his 
defeat he fell back to Chattanooga and was there beseiged 
until Grant came to his relief. 

764. What battles did Grant fight? 

Those of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, which 
were taken by sudden assault, Nov. 23 to 25. This ended 
the summer campaigns at the west. 

765. What was done by the fleet this summer? 

Much was attempted and but little accomplished. Fort 



142 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Sumter was attacked and Charleston beseiged by land and 
water, but neither movement was successful. Some points 
on the coasts were taken and the confederate iron-clad 
Atlanta was captured by the Monitor Weehawken in June, 
1863. 

766. Give the military movements in 1864. 

In 1864, Grant was put in charge of the forces in Virginia, 
and, by maneuvering and hard fighting, drove the con- 
federate army back to the defenses of Richmond. In the 
southeast, Sherman forced the defenses of Atlanta, Ga., and, 
leaving the confederate army to the care of Gen. Thomas, 
marched with 60,000 men across Georgia to Savannah. This 
divided the confederacy a second time, and as Thomas proved 
more than a match for the confederate army of Atlanta, 
Sherman's movement gave him a new base of attack with- 
out weakening the position of the armies of the north. 

767. What battles were fought in the Virginia campaign? 
Grant, possessed of almost unlimited forces, projected 

three campaigns to reach Richmond. One army, under 
Gen. Butler, was sent up the James river to threaten Rich- 
mond from the east ; another army was sent by way of the 
Shenandoah valley to threaten Richmond from the west, 
the main army, under Grant himself, marched south from 
Manassas Junction, crossing the headwaters of the Rappa- 
hannock and Rapidan rivers. The first battles were fought 
by Grant in the Wilderness, May 5 to 9, at Spotsylvania, 
May 8 to 21; at North Anna, May 23 to 26, and at Cold 
Harbor, May 51 to June 12. The army of the James suf- 
fered serious defeat at Drury's Bluff, and returned without 
accomplishing anything. The army of the Shenandoah val- 
ley was likewise defeated and failed of its mission. 

768. What change was made in the Shenandoah valley? 
Gen. Sheridan superseded Gen. Hunter in the command 

of the army of the Shenandoah, and, late in September, de- 
feated Gen. Early in the battle of Winchester. In the fol- 
lowing month he again defeated the same general at Cedar 
Creek, and succeeded in driving him far up the valley. 

769. Was this the extent of the Virginia campaigns in 
1864? 

No; Gen. Grant moved his armies around that of the 
enemy, crossed the James river and began the movement 
towards Richmond from the south. Both armies went into 



UNTIED STATES HISTORY. 



fortification near Petersburg, and there continued the rest of 
the year. 

770. What battles were fought in the southern campaign? 
Sherman's advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta led to 

several battles, chief among which were Resaca, Dallas 
and Kenesaw mountain. Again, at Atlanta, three battles 
were fought before the city was taken, then the confederate 
general, Hood, sought to create a diversion by leading his 
entire forces into Tennessee to cut Sherman's communi- 
cations with the north. Here Hood was met by Gen. 
Thomas and defeated totally at Franklin and at Nashville 
in December, 1 864. About the same time Sherman reached Sav- 
annah and after a siege of eight days captured the city. 

771. What were the movements of 1S65? 

Sherman marched northward through the Carolinas, de- 
fending himself from the attacks of the enemy. Grant at- 
tacked, and at last surrounded, the opposing army under Lee, 
and thus compelled its surrender. This conclusion came 
naturally from the exhaustion of the military resources of 
the south. The surrender of Johnston's army to Sherman 
followed immediately, and this was followed by a general 
laying down of arms in all parts of the confederacy. 

772. What battles were fought in this year? 

The first engagement of importance was the defeat, at 
Goldsboro, N. C., March 19, of Johnston's attempt to crush 
a portion of Sherman's army. Sheridan in raiding the 
Shenandoah valley with 10,000 cavalry, met with some op- 
position from Early's forces, and toward the latter end of 
March, Lee made a savage attack on Grant's lines at Fort 
Steadman. April 2, in making his final move to surround 
Lee, Grant broke through the enemy's line of entrench- 
ments by assault, and skirmishes occurred daily till the sur- 
render at Appomatox a week later. 

773. Apart from the main armies what was done? 

In Mississippi and Alabama, forces of federal troops 
moved about, destroying supplies. These met with little 
resistance except at Mobile, which was besieged and taken, 
with the help of the fleet, early in April. The capture of 
Fort Fisher and the neighboring city of Wilmington, N. C, 
accomplished by the help of the fleet early in 1865 — was 
also important, as it closed the last southern port to blockade 
runners. 



144 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



774. State the comparative military forces of the north and 
south. 

The union army was raised from 186,751, July 1, 1861, to 
1,000,516, May 1, 1865. Compared with the southern army 
it stood, according to the best estimates, about 1 to 1 in 1861, 
5 to 3 in 1862, 3 to 2 in 1863, 2 to 1 in 1864, and 4 to 1 in 
January, 1865. 

775. What was the total expenditure by the federal govern- 
ment on account of the war? 

It cannot be stated accurately (1) because the expenditure 
on account of the war cannot be distinguished from the gen- 
eral expenses of the nation, and (2) because this expense has 
extended over a long period and has not yet ceased. The 
estimates vary between four and six billions. 

776. What political change took place at the north during 
the war? 

A decided change in the attitude of the people toward 
the institution of slavery and toward the limitations set on 
the power of congress by the federal constitution. 

777. What was the declared policy of the government at 
the beginning of the war? 

In July, 1861, congress passed (almost unanimously) the 
"Crittenden resolution" which declared that "the war is not 
waged in any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of con- 
quest or subjugation, or the overthrowing or interfering 
with the rights or established institutions of the states, but 
to defend and maintain the supremacy of the constitution 
and to preserve the union with all the dignity, equality and 
rights of the several states unimpaired" and that "as soon as 
these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease." 

778. What was the purpose of this resolution? 

It w r as offered as a pledge to secure the support of the 
war by those who desired the preservation of the union, but 
not interference with slavery or enlargement of the powers 
of the federal government. 

779. Are such pledges morally binding? 

They must be considered so; as otherwise the government 
cannot claim the support of political opponents. (If the 
leaders of the war can rightfully aim at any change in the 
form of government, it becomes the right, if not the duty, 
of all opponents of this change, to oppose the conduct of the 
war.; 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



145 



780. Are such pledges usually kept? 

They are not, and hence the appeal to all parties to hold 
their political preferences in abeyance, and patriotically sup- 
port the government, deceives only those who have never 
studied either history or human nature. 

781. What became of the pledge in this particular instance? 
It was broken without scruple. The restoration of the 

"union as it was," soon appeared undesirabie, and, in view 
of public opinion, practically impossible. The question of 
"restoration" was naturally left to the sober judgment of 
the nation after the war feeling had passed away. 

782. How was slavery first attacked? 

In August, 1861, Gen. Fremont issued an order emancipat- 
ing the slaves in Missouri, but this order was promptly 
countermanded by President Lincoln. A similar order 
issued by Gen. Hunter May 9, 1862, declaring free the slaves 
in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, was also revoked 
by order of the president. But, even during its first session, 
congress confiscated slaves employed (with their master's 
consent) in direct aid of the southern armies. (This justi- 
fied the declaration made by Ge.i. Butler at Fort Monroe in 
May, 1 861, that slaves were "contraband of war," and there- 
fore could not be returned to disloyal masters under the 
fugitive slave law.) 

783. What was the next act of cLiigress on this subject? 
An act, passed in the spring of 1862, freeing the slaves in 

the District of Columbia and providing means for their 
voluntary emigration to Liberia or Hayti. In this case com- 
pensation was made to the slave owners. This law was 
merely local in its effect; a more positive attack on slavery 
was made in the Trumbull confiscation act passed during 
the same session of congress. 

784. What was the nature of the Trumbull act? 

. It specified certain classes of persons engaged in the ser- 
vice of the confederacy, whom it declared guilty of treason 
and subjected to the penalty of death or imprisonment at 
the pleasure of the court. It ordered the peremptory seizure 
and confiscation of the property of such persons (without 
trial) and the freeing of slaves belonging to the same. It 
also set free all slaves escaping from the confederacy or 
found within its limits by the union armies. 

785. What was the next move? 



146 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



A proclamation by the president Sept. 22, 1862, warning 
the seceded states that unless they returned to the union 
before the first day of January, 1863, he would declare their 
slaves free and thereafter maintain their freedom. 

786. What was the purpose of this proclamation? 

Not the intimidation of the south, but the satisfaction of 
the north in view of the congressional elections which were 
about to take place. 

787. Did the result show the political wisdom of the 
measure? 

Hardly. In the five leading states — New York, Pennsy- 
lvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — the result showed a 
tremendous falling off in the Republican vote and these 
states returned fifty-nine Democrats and forty Republican 
congressmen. In the other states the Republican vote great- 
ly declined, but in the total result the administration secured 
about twenty majority in the lower house of congress. 

788. Was the emancipation proclamation issued as an- 
nounced? 

It was; with the exception that Tennessee and parts of 
Virginia and Louisiana were not included within its scope. 

789. Did not the president intend that all the slaves should 
be freed? 

Yts; but he considered the government pledged to pay 
for the slaves of loyal citizens. He urged congress to make 
provision for such payment conditional upon the freeing of 
slaves by state action in the border states. (A bill offering 
$10,000,000 for the slaves of Missouri, passed the house 
early in 1863. The senate increased the appropriation to 
$15,000,000 and the bill returned to the house for concur- 
rence, but owing to the opposition of the Democratic op- 
ponents of emancipation the measure was not brought to 
vote.) 

790. Was any compensation made to the loyal owners of 
slaves set free by the federal government? 

No; by the time the emancipation was completed by the 
adoption of the thirteenth amendment, congress felt that it 
could afford to deny the claims of these slave owners; and 
the repudiation was made perpetual by a clause inserted in 
the fourteenth amendment. 

791. What can you say of the emancipation? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



147 



That it is a measure in which the country generally 
acquiesced — not one in a thousand of the white people south 
as well as north now wishing it undone. But as to the 
manner of emancipation, legally considered, it is best defend- 
ed as a "war measure," as Thaddeus Stevens defended the 
admission of West Virginia.* 

792. Give the history of the separation of Virginia. 
When Virginia adopted the ordinance of secession, the 

people of West Virginia formed what was virtually a ter- 
ritorial government at Wheeling. This organization de- 
clared itself the government of the state of Virginia on the 
ground that the rest of the state was disfranchised by its 
treason. The president and congress "recognized" this pro- 
ceeding, and the members of congress from this pseudo- 
state were admitted. Having secured "recognition" the 
Wheeling government, as the state of Virginia, ratified its 
own secession as West Virginia, and by this travesty of legal 
forms complied with the constitutional provision that "no 
new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction 
of any other state, without the consent of the legislature of 
the state concerned." 

793. When was the state finally admitted? 

June 20, 1S63. It was considered politically expedient — in 
view of the possible return of all or a part of the confederate 
states to the union — to secure the vote of West Virginia in 
the elections of 1864. 

794. How w r as the financial support of the war provided? 
Partly by increased taxation and partly by borrowings. 

795. What were the forms of taxation? • 

The most productive were the tariff on imports and the 
internal revenue or excise taxes. A direct tax of $20,000,000 
was levied and apportioned among the states for collection ; 
eight millions of this was demanded of the states in the con- 
federacy. An income tax was also imposed, but the direct 



♦Concerning the proposal to admit West Virginia, Mr. Stevens said 
that it was "but mockery to say that the legislature of Virginia had 
ever consented to the separation, but he took no account of that. "We 
may admit West Virginia as a new state, not by virtue of any provision 
of the constitution, but under our absolute power which the laws of 
war give us in the circumstances in which we are placed. I shall vote 
for the bill on that theory and that alone. I will not stultify myself by 
supposing that we have any warrant in the constitution for this pro- 
ceeding." 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



and income taxes were unpopular and comparatively un- 
productive. 

796. What other devices were resorted to in aid of the 
treasury ? 

The issuing of legal-tender treasury notes and the estab- 
lishment of a national-bank currency based on government 
bonds. 

797. What can you say of our foreign relations during the 
war? 

They were generally unsatisfactory, partly owing to our 
own state of mind and partly to unfavorable circumstances. 
In the first place the north looked to the nations of Europe 
for an endorsement of its contention as opposed to that of 
the south and was not satisfied with mere professions of 
friendliness. In the second place the vested interests of 
most European nations inclined them to favor the establish- 
ment of the confederacy. Thirdly, the sentiment of the 
dominant party at the north was felt to be hostile to the chief 
European nations and this was naturally resented. 

798. How was this anti-foreign feeling shown? 

The Republican party had come into power largely upon 
the high-tariff issue, bolstered up by fostering hostility to 
importations from Europe and commercial jealousy of 
European nations. (The confederacy, on the other hand, 
declared for absolute free trade.) Furthermore, there was a 
strong feeling at the north in favor of a foreign war as a 
matter of policy, intended to unite north and south and distract 
attention from the slavery question.* (This was rank folly, 
as most people will now acknowledge, but it was strongly 
advocated then.) 

799. How were foreign countries interested in the success 
of the south? 



*That even Secretary Seward was taken with the idea, appears in 
his extraordinary proposals to President Lincoln recently published 
for the first time (See century for March, 1888.) Spain and Portugal 
were there proposed as the victims. The conquest of Canada was a 
favorite project urged in public and private as la'e as 1863. Also the 
conquest or annexation of Mexico, under the pretense of driving the 
French from that country. That England, for one, early took account 
of this peculiar form of rabies appears in the despatch of Lord John 
Eussell (British m nister of foreign affairs), to the English minister at 
Washington, setting forth the policy of his government, ''supposing that 
Mr. Lincoln, acting under bad advice, should endeavor to provide ex- 
citement for the public mind by raising questions with Great Britain." 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



149 



They had, at first, no financial interest in the success of 
the south, except of course, the opening of that country to 
free trade; but the action of the federal government in pro- 
claiming a blockade of southern ports, put a bar on the ex- 
port of cotton, etc., which interfered with the manufacturing 
interests of Europe. 

800. Of what specific acts of unfriendliness did the north 
complain? 

At lirst, of precipitation in recognizing the confederate 
states as belligerents, and of secret negotiation with the 
confederacy on the part of England and France. Afterward 
of aid and succor given to the confederacy by allowing the 
building and equipment of confederate cruisers, and treating 
these privateers as legitimate vessels of war in neutral ports. 
Also of open traffic carried on with the south in spite of the 
declared blockade. 

801. What countries gave these causes of complaint? 
Most of the European nations recognized the belligerency 

before the United States thought they should have done so, 
and England, France, Brazil, Spain and . Mexico gave oc- 
casion for our wrath by assistance to confederate privateers.* 

802. Who was the chief offender in all this? 

England. The government of England, by persistent re- 
fusal to prevent the fitting out, on her territory, of con- 
federate privateers, gave ample provocation for war; and 
war would no doubt have been declared had the United 
States felt able, under the circumstances, to contend with 
so powerful a foe, As it was, we simply lodged a claim for 
damages done by the cruisers, and this claim was finally 
met and settled by arbitration under the treaty of Washing- 
ton. 

803. What was the Trent affair? 

In November, 1861, Captain Wilkes, commander of the 
San Jacinto, stopped an English mail steamer, the Trent y in 



*0f course, much ot the complaint we must now own to have been 
ill-founded. The "belligerent rights" of the confederacy must needs 
have been acknowledged sooner or later, and no nation could reason- 
ably be asked to help us in maintaining the blockade of southern 
ports. Our demand that the privateers authorized. by the southern con- 
federacy be treated as pirates was also altogether unreasonable un- 
der the existing state of international law. It was the more unreason < 
able, because the United States had not given its assent to the treaty 
of Paris, in 1856, proposing the abolition of the right of privateering. 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



the West Indies, and took from her four passengers — Messrs. 
Mason and Slidell, confederate commissioners, and their 
secretaries — and carried these gentlemen prisoners to the 
United States. In thus searching a neutral vessel on the 
high seas and in taking prisoner passengers under protection 
of the British flag, Capt. Wilkes violated international law 
and gave great offense to England. The United States, 
however, disclaimed the act and made peace by surrender- 
ing the prisoners to the British authorities with a suitable 
apology. 

804. How did France give offense to the United States 
during the war ? 

By military interference in the affairs of Mexico on what 
we considered an insufficient pretext, and by taking oc- 
casion to aid in the establishment of a Mexican empire. 

805. Give the history of the interference. 

In 1858, Benito Juarez became, by revolution, chief magis- 
trate of Mexico, but he could not quell the opposition nor 
maintain satisfactory government. Hence in i860, Eng- 
land, France and Spain made simultaneous demands upon 
Mexico, either for the immediate settlement of some $40,- 
000,000 of old debts, or for the establishment of a respon- 
sible government to guarantee future payment. The three 
governments made a military and naval demonstration in 
aid of the party in opposition to President Juarez. In so 
doing, France professed to "espouse the quarrel of no 
party," but simply to establish stable government in the 
form and manner desired by the Mexicans. 

806. Was the question of the form of government really 
left open ? 

Considering the condition of Mexico, it must be said it 
was not. "Stable government," maintained by French 
armies, meant government of a kind that France approved, 
and this was a monarchy. 

807. How was a monarchy established? 

The French general, having taken possession of the city 
of Mexico, joined with the heads of the Mexican church 
and army in calling an assembly of notables, and this body, 
in July, 1863, voted that a monarchy was the form of 
government best suited to the interests and character of 
the people of Mexico. Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian 
Joseph, (brother of the present emperor of Austria) was 
offered the throne of Mexico with the title of emperor. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



808. What was the nature of Maximilian's government and 
why did it fail? 

In accepting the post offered him, Maximilian asked 
for assurance that the Mexicans generally favored the 
empire, and having obtained this (as he thought) proceeded 
to establish a liberal monarchy. In his cabinet he had 
some of those who had formerly been in the cabinet of 
President Juarez. The government was good but not 
satisfactory even to the leaders of the imperial party, 
whose interests suffered through some of the reforms es- 
tablished. The failure of the empire was caused by the 
precipitate withdrawal of the French troops in 1865 
before the empire had received a fair trial. 

809. How was the United States affected by the action of 
France? 

The United States had no direct interest in Mexico 
and had refused to accept a protectorate over that coun- 
try,* hence it could only object on the ground that Maxi- 
milian's government was a usurpation, — not acquiesced 
in by the Mexicans. | To test the question whether the em- 
pire was accepted by the Mexicans, the United States in 1865 
asked that the French troops withdraw from Mexico. 

810. How was the matter settled? 

After some negotiation an agreement was reached, by 
which the United States recognized the original right of 
France to invade Mexico, and France admitted the right 
of Mexico to accept or reject the empire, and engaged to 
withdraw her troops. This was done in 1866, and in 1867 
the empire was overturned by Juarez and his followers, 
and the Emperor Maximilian captured and put to death. 

811. What state was admitted to the union during Lincoln's 
administration? 

October 31, 1S64, Nevada was admitted. This state 
was formed from a part of the Mexican cession of 1848; 
its wealth was altogether in its mines, particularly those 
of silver. Its admission is now generally conceded to 
have been premature, as with the failure of its mines 
its population has declined rather than increased. 



^Reference is made to the McLane treaty of 1860, rejected by the 
United States senate. 

tit had ahead/ protested against the invasion of Mexico as in 
some way "an unfriendly act" to the United States, but this may 
have been due to the hysterical condition of popular feeling. 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



8 1 2. Whence the name of this state? 

It comes from the mountain range of the same name- 
Nevada in Spanish meaning "snow-covered." 

813. Who were the candidates in the presidential election 
of 1864? 

President Lincoln was nominated by the Union-Republi- 
cans at Baltimore, with Andrew Johnson of Tennessee 
(instead of Hamlin) as candidate for vice-president. A mass 
convention of Republicans came together at Cleveland 
and nominated Gens. Fremont of Missouri, and Cochrane 
of New York, but this ticket was withdrawn during the 
campaign. The anti-war Democrats met at Chicago late 
in the campaign (Aug. 20), and nominated Gen. George B. 
McClellan and George H. Pendleton of Ohio. 

814. What was the attitude of the different parties toward 
the south? 

The Baltimore convention endorsed the war and the 
administration, and opposed any compromise with the 
south in dealing with the slavery question. The Cleveland 
convention endorsed the war but condemned the admin- 
istration. The Chicago convention condemned the war in 
part and the administration in toto ; dwelling on the all too 
obvious fact that the policy of war had not yet restored the 
union.* 

815. Did the convention demand peace at any price? 

No; though the movement, if successful, would doubtless 
have reached that conclusion. McClellan, in his letter 
of acceptance, ignored this tendency of the platform, de- 
claring that the re-establishment of the union was an in- 
dispensable condition of peace. 

816. What was the result of the election? 

Overwhelming defeat for the Peace Democrats. McClel- 
lan and Pendleton carried the states of New Jersey, Del- 
aware and Kentucky only, and received 21 electoral votes. 
Lincoln and Johnson carried all the other states not in 
rebellion, and received 212 electoral votes. (Eleven states, 



*The emancipation of slaves was especially condemned as both 
impolitic and unconstitutional. The platform urged "that immediate 
efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities with a view to an ulti- 
mate convention of all the states or other peaceable means, to the 
end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored 
<on the basis of the federal union of the states." 



UNITED STATES HISTORY 



-53 



with 81 electoral votes, took no part in the election.) The 
popular vote stood : Lincoln, 2,216,067; McClellan, 1,808,725 

817. How long did Lincoln hold the presidency? 

Only a little more than four years. He was assassin- 
ated, April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth, who had formed 
a conspiracy with a few of his personal acquaintances to 
kill the president and the recognized leaders of the gov- 
ernment. There is no reason to think that the conspiracy 
was extensive or that its members hoped to do more than 
"avenge the south.'' 

818. Who succeeded to the presidency? 

Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, who had been elected 
vice-president with Lincoln in 1864. Johnson was then 
fifty-seven years of age, a native of North Carolina and a 
citizen of Tennessee. He was, like Lincoln, a self-made 
man, and a leader of the common people, and had shown 
himself thoroughly devoted to the union, but he was not, 
aud had never been, a Republican, and was not in sympathy 
with the aims of the leaders of that party. 



chapter xix. — Johnson's administration. 

819. How long was Johnson president? 

Nearly four years. He succeeded Lincoln in April, 1865, 
and served to the end of the term in 1869. 

820. What were the chief events of his administration ? 

The "reconstruction" of the southern states, and the at- 
tempted impeachment of the president. These were partly 
the cause and partly the consequence of the division be- 
tween Radical Republicans and the Union Republicans, 
the former faction proving by far the stronger wing of the 
party. 

821. What was the point of political difference? 

Chiefly as to the rights of the south and the duty of the 
nation toward emancipated negroes. The Union Repub- 
licans halted with the restoration of the union. They clung 
to the party pledge, given in the Crittenden resolution, 
that with the restoration of the union the war should cease. 
They accepted the emancipation of slaves, it is true, but only 
as a war measure. The Radicals wished to go forward — pun 
ish the south and provide for the advancement of the freed 
men. 



i54 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



S22. What were the different views as to the legal status 
of the southern states? 

There had long been a dispute concerning the effect of 
the secession of the southern states. One side held that 
the ordinances of secession were null and void, and that 
therefore the southern states were never out of the union. 
The other side maintained that the states were out by their 
own act, but were morally and legally at fault, and must 
be brought into subjection, and after that re-admitted to the 
union. 

823. How did Lincoln deal with this question? 

He set it aside as not a practical one and (in his time) 
"merely a pernicious abstraction." " We all agree," he 
said, "that the seceded states so-called are out of their proper 
practical relation with the union and that the sole object 
of the government is to get them back into their proper 
practical relation. * * * . The states 

finding themselves once more at home it would seem im- 
material to me to inquire whether they had been abroad," 

824. How did this question become more important? 

It became the basis of an argument whether the states 
were to be treated as in the union and therefore possessed 
of constitutional rights,* or as out of the union and to be 
treated as conquered territory. (As a result, they seem 
to have been regarded as in the union or as out of it, 
just as it suited the immediate purpose of the party in power 
to consider them.) 

82$. When the war was over, what was done about the 
governments of the southern states? 



♦President Johnson regarded the southern states as in the union and 
and as only needing to he put in their " proper practical relation " to it. 
This view, which is in accordance with decisions of the federal supreme 
court, would have undoubtedly have been accepted but for the very nat- 
ural desire of the north to "punish the south for its treason" and to 
advance the interests of the negro. Thaddeus Stevens took another 
view ot the situation— an extra-legal and altogether common -sense view. 
He said : " Unless the law of nations is a dead letter, the late war be- 
tween the acknowledged belligerents severed their original contracts 
and broke all the ties that bound them together. They must come in as 
new states or remain as conquered provinces." Sumner was disposed 
to take the same view : he urged the promulgation of the thirteenth 
amendment as apart of the constitution, it having received "the votes of 
three-fourths of the states adhering to the union." He said "the votes 
of the states in rebellion are not necessary to its adoption, but they must 
all agree to it, through their legislatures, as a condition precedent to their 
restoration to full rights as members of the union." 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



155 



The state governments under the confederacy were 
ignored, and the formation of new state governments en- 
couraged. Even before the close of the war, the union men 
in Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee were urged to form 
governments, and these organizations (though representing 
a small fraction of the state) were recognized as state gov- 
ernments by President Lincoln. 

826. Did congress also recognize them? 

Two congressmen from Louisiana were admitted to the 
house of representatives during the war, but this was about 
the time when congress was recognizing the Wheeling 
assembly as the government of Virginia. Later on, 
congress began to see that the return of the southern states 
to the union might prove embarrassing, and hence, in 1864, 
it opposed Lincoln's reconstruction policy, and passed a 
bill prescribing conditions on which the southern states 
might be admitted to the union. This bill President Lin- 
coln refused to sign and so defeated it. 

827. What course did President Johnson pursue? 

He had been the provisional governor appointed to re- 
construct Tennessee, and he followed Lincoln's example 
in appointing provisional governors and urging the organ- 
ization of state governments that could take' the place of the 
military rule and anarchy then prevailing. 

828. Describe the plan of reconstruction? 

The president appointed temporary governors of the 
southern states, and these governors called conventions of 
delegates elected by the white people, the voters under 
ante-bellum state laws. These conventions adopted state 
constitutions, and called elections for state officers. 

829. Whp took part in the conventions thus held? 
Preparatory to reconstruction, President Johnson issued 

a proclamation of amnesty to those lately engaged in the 
rebellion, specially excepting fourteen classes of the con- 
federates, whom he held especially responsible. (To individ- 
uals of these classes, he offered to grant pardon on their 
personal application.) Only those southerners amnestied 
or pardoned by the president took part in the reconstruction, 
and these only after they had taken the oath of allegiance to 
the constitution and the union. 

830. Were any further conditions imposed? 

Yes, the conventions when they met, were required to 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



do three things, (i) to declare void the ordinances of seces- 
sion, (2) to repudiate the debt of the states incurred in aid 
of the rebellion, and (3) to ratify the thirteenth constitutional 
amendment. 

831. How did the president's plan differ from that pres- 
cribed by congress in the bill of 1864, rejected by president 
Lincoln ? 

In essential particulars, it differed very little. The bill 
of 1864 required the provisional governor to make "an en- 
rollment of white male citizens, submitting to each an oath 
to support the constitution." When a majority of the white 
male citizens had done this, delegates to a constitutional 
convention were to be elected by the enrolled voters and 
the convention was to incorporate in its constitution a pro- 
vision disfranchising the higher grades of officers in the 
confederacy. Beyond these provisions, there was no essen- 
tial difference in the two plans, and no guarantee was or 
could have been required that the disfranchisement of 
confederate leaders should be perpetual. 

832. Give the history of the passing of the thirteenth amend- 
ment. 

The thirteenth amendment, prohibiting slavery, was pro- 
posed by congress Feb. 1, 1865, and Dec. 18, of the same 
year, was promulgated by Secretary Seward as having been 
ratified by twenty seven states — eight of these being the re- 
constructed states of the south. 

833. How does the adoption of the thirteenth amendment 
involve the question of the status of the southern states? 

If the southern states were in the union in 1865, but un- 
provided with lawful governments (by reason of the null- 
ity of Johnson's reconstruction) then the thirteenth amend- 
ment was not and could not have been, adopted. 

834. When did Johnson's reconstruction end? 

In the spring of 1866. April 2, 1866, the president issued 
a proclamation recognizing the existence of proper civil 
governments in the southern states and declaring the union 
restored and all insurrection in the southern states manifestly 
at an end. 

835- What was the purpose and aim of Johnson's recon- 
struction ? 

It aimed to bring the southern states back into the union 
without subjecting them to further humiliation, and by 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



157 



giving them a share in the profits of the union to encourage 
their acceptance of it, — love for it being recognized as an 
unreasonable requirement. 

836. Wherein was the weakness of Johnson's policy ? 

It failed to take into account the feeling of the north on 
the negro question. Hatred of the south was still rife at 
the north — as was only natural — but it might have been 
suppressed had it not been re-inforced by the determination 
of the Abolitionists not to leave the freedman to the tender 
mercies of his old-time oppressors. This feeling was 
strengthened by the course taken by the southern states 
in legislating for the emancipated blacks. 

837. What can you say of the legislation by the southern 
states for the freedrnen? 

Though by no means as hostile and vindictive as it has 
been represented to be, it was evidently based on the assump- 
tion (1) that the negro was not to be trusted with complete 
freedom, and (2) that the interests of the whites were pre- 
eminently to be considered. (While the southerners might 
fairly claim to be the best judges of the necessity Qr expedi- 
ency of such legislation, the distrust felt by the north of 
their good will toward the blacks was fully justified by circum- 
stances.) 

838. What solution of the difficulty was proposed? 

The passage of a fourteenth amendment to the constitu- 
tion, guaranteeing the legal equality of citizens and putting 
a check upon unjust legislation on the part of the state. 
Such an amendment might fairly have been required of 
the southern states as a condition precedent to their restora- 
tion to the union* 

839. What stood in the way of a reconstruction on this 
basis? 

The dominant party at the north naturally considered 
the probability that the southern members of congress would 
unite with the Democratic members from northern states, 



*The prompt rejection by the southern legislatures of the fourteenth 
amendment, as presented to them in 1866, makes it doubtful whether 
the essential features of that amendment would have been accepted by 
them without some degree of coercion. Yet it was confidently stated, 
at the time, that the first two sections of the amendment could have 
been put through if presented as a settlement of the question. On the 
other hand the south were encouraged by the breach between the pres- 
ident and the Kepublican leaders in congress to hope for restoration to 
their constitutional rights on more favorable terms. 



158 THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 

and so prove a check upon Radical legislation. This being the 
case, they resented, first, the fact that the south was entitled 
to representation in proportion to its population — including 
4,000,000 of freedmen — and, second, the retention as lead- 
ers in political affairs at the south of the men who had been 
prominent in the confederacy. 

840. Was it not natural that the south should seek to be 
represented by its recognized leaders? 

Yes, but the northern Republicans had all along cherished 
the belief that the south had been dragged into rebellion, 
and that there was, if not a majority, at least a strong minor- 
ity, secretly attached to the union. (Beyond the existence 
of a small percentage of union men at the south during 
the war, there does not seem to have been warrant for this 
belief.) 

841. What action was taken by congress? 

In June, 1866, congress by joint resolution proposed the 
fourteenth amendment to the constitution in the form in which 
it was finally adopted. 

842. How was the amendment received by the states? 

It was adopted by twenty of the loyal states and by one 
of the reconstructed states of the south — Tennessee. The 
other ten ex-confederate states rejected it, as did also the 
three loyal states of Delaware, Maryland and Kentucky. 
(Three other states — Iowa, California and Nebraska — were 
considered in favor of the measure, but up to March, 1867, 
had not acted upon it.) 

843. Meanwhile, what change had taken place in congress? 
The people of the north had fully endorsed the Radical 

reconstruction policy in the congressional elections of 1866, 
and the fortieth congress — which was called to meet March 
4 — was even more Radical than the thirty-ninth. Thus 
reinforced, the Radical leaders proposed not to rest with 
the exclusion of the southern states until they should have 
accepted the fourteenth amendment, but to proceed to re- 
construct them and enforce the adoption of the measure. 

844. How did they set about this? 

March 2, 1867, they passed the first reconstruction act, 
based upon the premise that "no legal state governments 
or adequate protection for life or property existed in ten 
of the southern states." (Tennessee had been re admitted 
to congress on her passage of the fourteenth amendment.) 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



iS9 



The act divided the states in question into five military 
districts, and subjected them to martial law until satisfac- 
tory state governments should be formed, until these had 
ratified the fourteenth amendment, and until the said 
amendment should have become part of the constitution of 
the United States. 

845. What was done to ensure compliance on the part of 
the southern states? 

The act provided for negro suffrage and for the disfran- 
chisement of the classes proposed to be disfranchised by the 
fourteenth amendment. To enforce these provisions a 
second reconstruction act was passed by the fortieth con- 
gress March 23, 1867, and other supplementary acts were 
passed in July, 1867, and March, 1868. 

846. Were these acts put into effect? 

Yes; President Johnson vetoed them — as was expected — 
but as congress passed them over his veto, he proceeded to 
enforce them. Military rule was established at the south 
and a registration of persons entitled to vote under the re- 
construction acts was duly made. (This registration showed 
large negro majorities in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, 
Mississippi and South Carolina, and a slight majority in 
Florida.) 

847. What was the immediate result of the reconstruction 
so effected? 

Conventions were held and state governments were 
framed, chiefly by persons chosen by the negro vote. It was 
charged that a majority of the deputies so chosen were 
northern Republicans — adventurers who were said to have 
brought nothing south but a carpet-bag, and were hence nick- 
named carpet-baggers.* 

848. What must be admitted concerning the Radical scheme 
of reconstruction ? 

That it was altogether reckless concerning the nature of 
the government to which it subjected the south. Stringent 
requirements were made as to "loyalty" and deference to 

*It is a fact that a large majority of the Republican leaders 
at the south were not natives 01 tnat section. ADout sixty per cent of 
the delegates to the constitutional conventions are listed (by Democratic 
agents, however,) as "imported," and a still larger majority of the gov- 
ernors, senators and representatives were men who settled in the south 
after the war. Legally, of course, no objection could be made, but it 
could scarcely be expected that the southerners w r ould look upon these 
men as their "representatives," 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



the will of congress on the negro suffrage and civil rights 
questions, but nothing further was asked. Congress held 
itself in no way responsible for the behavior of the men it 
had legislated into power. 

849. When was the admission of the southern states con- 
ceded by congress ? 

In June, 1868, bills were passed declaring that seven of 
the ten states were duly reconstructed and fit for admission sub- 
ject to certain conditions afterwards fulfilled. (Virginia, 
Mississippi and Texas at first refused or neglected to comply 
with the requirements of the reconstruction act.) 

850. When was the fourteenth amendment proclaimed a 
part of the constitution ? 

It was promulgated hypotheticaliy July 20, 1868, by the 
secretary of state, Mr. Seward, and on the day following was 
plainly asserted to have been adopted by a joint resolution 
of congress. Hence it has been generally recognized as a 
part of the constitution. 

851. Whence the doubt as to its ratification by the states? 
Mr. Seward announced that if the states of Ohio and 

New Jersey had no right to recall their previous ratification, 
then the amendment had been adopted by twenty-nine 
states— the necessary three-fourths of the union. He also 
implied a doubt whether the newly- constituted bodies at 
the south were constitutional legislatures. For these and 
other reasons, the opponents of the amendment north and 
south at first refused to consider the amendment legally 
binding, but it has since been recognized by the courts, 
and endorsed by Democrats as well as Republicans, and 
will probably never be repudiated as long as the majority of 
the voters find it satisfactory. 

852. Meanwhile, what difficulty had arisen between the 
president and the majority in congress? 

Owing to his arbitrary removal of Edwin M. Stanton from 
the office of secretary of war, in defiance of the order of the 
senate, President Johnson was, in 1867, impeached by the 
house of representatives, tried by the senate, and barely escaped 
conviction and removal from office. 

853. Give the history of the affair. 

One of the many acts passed by congress for the vexation 
or coercion of the president, had been the tenure-of -office 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



161 



bill.* This bill took from the president the right to remove 
officials of the higher grades unless the senate consented to 
the removal. In 1867, the president asked for the resigna- 
tion of Secretary Stanton, and, this being refused, suspend- 
ed that official and ordered Gen. Grant to take charge of 
the war office. The senate refused its consent to the suspen- 
sion, thereby forcing upon the president a cabinet officer 
whom he both disliked and mistrusted.^ 

854. Did the president submit? 

No; February 21, 1868, he informed the senate that he 
had, in the exercise of the power and authority vested 
in him by the constitution, removed Mr. Stanton from office 
and designated the adjutant general of the army — Lorenzo 
Thomas — as secretary ad interim. 

855. And for this he was impeached? 

This was not the sole ground of the impeachment, by 
any means, but it may be considered the cause thereof. 
The house of representatives had already, after full investi- 
gation by a committee, defeated a motion to impeach the 
president by a vote of 108 to 57. Immediately after the re- 
moval of Stanton, the house adopted impeachment resolutions 
by a vote of 126 yeas to 47 nays; 17 members not voting. 

856. What action w^s then taken? 

Feb. 25, 1868, the house proceeded to "impeach Andrew 
Johnson, president of the United States, of high crimes and 
misdemeanors," presenting its charges at the bar of the senate 
which was to act as a court of trial. 

857. Give the gist of the charges made. 



*0f the tenure- of -office act,it must be said that it was unprecedented. 
No such restriction had ever before been placed upon a president. It 
was virtually repealed as soon as Grant became president, and was al- 
together wiped out by congress in 1885, President Johnson believed it 
unconstitutional and hoped to force his opponents to appeal to the 
courts, and so test the matter. He was greatly vexed that Gen. Grant 
willingly gave place to Stanton after the senate's decision became 
known, as he hoped to make Stanton appeal to the court for a writ of 
quo warranto* 

t"For the first time in the history of the United States an officer dis- 
tasteful to the president and personally distrusted and disliked by him 
was forced upon him as one of his confidential advisers in the adminis- 
tration of the government. In the prima facie statement of this case 
the senate was in the wrong. Upon the record of its votes and the ex- 
pression of opinion by its own members, the senate was in the wrong. 
The history ot every preceding administration and of every subsequent 
administration of the federal government, proves that the senate vva* 
in the wrong."— Blaine'* "Twenty Years4n Congress." 



162 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



They began with the undisputed fact of the removal of 
Stanton, in violation, (or in alleged violation*) of the tenure- 
of-office act, but they also proceeded to charge that he had 
conspired with Lorenzo Thomas and others to violate the 
laws — a trivial offense so far as proven— -and had treated 
and spoken of congress in a manner that "tended to bring 
that body into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and 
reproach." (In proof of this charge of libel, they cited 
his speeches delivered two years before.) Finally, it was 
charged that the president's defiance of the authority of 
congress was in pursuance of a denial — also made in 1866 — 
that the thirty-ninth congress was the congress of the 
United States authorized by the constitution, inasmuch as it 
represented only part of the states. 

858. How far did Johnson go in his denial of the authority 
of congress? 

He certainly maintained that it was not rightfully con- 
stituted, but he accepted it as the federal congress de facto.^f" 
He defended his defiance of its orders in removing Stanton 
on entirely different grounds. 

859. How was the president tried on the charges made? 

By the senate, sitting as a high court of impeachment, 
with the chief justice as presiding officer. The trial lasted 
from March 30 to May 12, 1868. 

860. What was the conclusion? 

Two votes were taken in the senate on the chief article 
of impeachment and in both of these, 35 senators voted 
"guilty," and 19 "not guilty." As a two-thirds vote was 



*The act provided that members of the cabinet should hold their of- 
fices, for and during the term of the president by whom they may have 
been appointed. Strictly speaking the act was not violated by the re- 
moval of Stanton, who had been appointed by President Lincoln. Con- 
sidering this fact, and the further fact that (as the president offered to 
prove) the cabinet, including Mr. Stanton himself, had, one year before, 
unanimously pronounced the act unconstitutional, the charge of mani- 
fest insubordination seems ill - founded. Besides the matter might have 
been taken into the court for settlement. 

tA statement was published by Chauncey M.Depew just after Grant's 
death in 1885, to the effect that Johnson, in 1866, proposed to set up a 
rival congress, composed of members from the south and northern 
Democrats, and this wicked plot was foiled only by the patriotism and 
vigilance of Gen. Grant. The story is not only without historic proba- 
bility, but it is directly denied by Grant's own testimony before the 
house committee on impeachment. See " Twenty Years in Congress," 
Vol. II, p. 344. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



163 



necessary for conviction, the impeachment was not sustained. 

861. Was this result unexpected? 

Yes; seven of the negative votes were cast by Republi- 
can senators in good standing with their party, and it was 
thought that none of these would dare to violate the com- 
mands of the party managers by voting to acquit the pres- 
ident. 

862. How was their insubordination punished? 

They were virtually driven from the party as if they had 
themselves committed a high crime and misdemeanor. 

863. Is it still a Republican dogma that Johnson should have 
been found guilty? 

By no means. Blaine, an ardent advocate of the impeach- 
ment, writes (in 1885) that it was "not justifiable on the 
charges made," — though he still holds Johnson guilty in 
his reconstruction policy. He would ask "any candid man 
if he believes a precisely similar act committed by a pres- 
ident in harmony with his party would have been followed 
by impeachment, by censure, or even by dissent. It is 
hardly conceivable, nay, it is impossible" (he says) "that 
under such circumstances the slightest notice of the pres- 
ident's action would be taken by either branch of congress." 
(There are also other prominent Republicans who are not 
afraid to do honor to the dissenting senators,*) 

864. What effect did the affair have upon the country? 

It created much less disturbance than might have been 
expected, being regarded merely as a political broil. In 
any case the near approach of the presidential election 
would have overshadowed it in interest. As it was, the 
politicians simply appealed to the people, and the result 
was the election of a Republican president and a Radical ma- 
jority in both houses of congress. 

865. Outside of politics, what was the most notable event of 
Johnson's administration? 

The laying of the Atlantic cable in 1866, and the purchase 
of Alaska by the United States in 1867. (Both events are 



♦"Never did two men show more clearly the quality of true statesman- 
ship or render a more precious service to their party and their country 
than Senators Fessenden and Trumbull when they dared to act inde- 
pendently of party in the impeachment case against President Johnson, 
They saved us from the creeping paralysis which is now gradually be- 
numbing the political energies of France."— James Russell Lowell, 1888. 



164 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



in their way noteworthy, though there is, of course, no standard 
of comparison between them.) 

866. What was the Atlantic cable? 

A submarine cable for telegraphic communication with 
Europe. It was laid from Ireland to Newfoundland after 
several failures, and was found to work properly. This 
encouraged the laying of many other submarine cables, so 
that telegrams are now received from nearly all parts of the 
civilized world. 

867. What of the purchase of Alaska? 

It was bought by the United States from Russia in 1867 
for $7,200,000. It contains over half a million square miles 
of territory, but it w T as at first lightly esteemed, and its pur- 
chase condemned and ridiculed. Time has shown it to be 
a paying investment from a financial point of view. 

868. What state w r as admitted during this administration? 
Nebraska; this territory was organized in 1854, by the 

bill repealing the Missouri compromise. Its admission as 
a state was delayed by the opposition of President Johnson, 
who defeated two bills of admission, saying that while the 
states of the south were kept out of congress, it was no 
time to hurry in northern territories with meager popula- 
tion and resources. He also objected to the congressional 
assumption of control over the question of suffrage in the 
new state. This opposition was finally overridden by con- 
gress, and Nebraska was admitted in time to take part in the 
election of 1868. 

869. Who were the candidates in the presidential campaign 
of 1868? 

The Republican convention put up Gen. U. S. Grant 
and Schuyler Colfax, on a platform endorsing the Radical 
reconstruction at the south. The Democrats nominated 
Gov. Horatio Seymour of New York, and Gen. Frank P. 
Blair of Missouri, on a platform demanding the "immediate 
restoration of all the states to their rights in the union under 
the constitution. " 

870. What states did not take part in this election ? 

The states of Mississippi, Texas and Virginia, which were 
still held under military rule. 

871. What was the result? 

Of the 294 electoral votes cast, Grant and Colfax received 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



165 



214, and Seymour and Blair 80. The Republicans had a large 
majority on the popular vote. 

872. Had Johnson's reconstruction been allowed to stand, 
would the result have been the same? 

The Republicans would undoubtedly have won the pres- 
idential election. At most, Seymour and Blair would have 
had 144 electoral votes, to 173 for Grant and Colfax. 

873. What can you say of the successful candidates? 

Grant was at this time well known as a successful gen- 
eral. Born in Ohio in 1822, he had chosen to be a soldier 
and had been educated at West Point, where he graduated 
in 1843. After serving in the West and in Mexico, he re- 
signed and engaged in business. In 1861, he was given 
command of an Illinois regiment, and by repeated victories 
merited and obtained promotion to the rank of lieutenant 
general before the close of the war., Schuyler Colfax was 
a congressman from Indiana, and had been for some time 
speaker of the house of representatives. 



CHAPTER XX.-— GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. 

874. How long was Grant president? 

Eight years; from March, 1869, to March 1877, being 
re-elected for a second term in 1872. 

875. What amendment to the constitution was made during 
this term? 

The fifteenth amendment, which declares that the right 
of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be abridged 
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

876. Give the history of this amendment. 

It was proposed by congress just after the election of 
1868, and submitted to the states in February, 1869. It 
was promulgated March 30, 1870, as having been ratified 
by the legislatures of thirty states, and thereby became recog- 
nized as a part of the constitution. 

877. Was the adoption of the amendment a logical result 
of the previous election ? 

It was the natural outgrowth of the situation. The 
Republican leaders in congress were encouraged by the 
party victory to propose the amendment, but the measure 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



itself was a new one, and one which had not been con- 
sidered in the election of 1868.* 

878. In view of this fact, what was proposed ? 

The Democrats demanded that their opponents should, 
(as a proof of good faith), submit the amendment to dele- 
gate conventions of the people of the states instead of to 
the state legislatures already elected. This the Republicans 
emphatically refused to do. 

879. Was the adoption of the amendment unquestionable? 
It was not. The ratification of this amendment was at 

first generally denied by its opponents, and its final 
acceptance by them was undoubtedly due to policy rather than 
conviction. 

880. How could this have been avoided? 

The passage of the amendment by state conventions 
would have been a sufficient answer to all objections, 
not based on the peculiar condition of things in the un- 
reconstructed states. It would have settled the question 
whether the amendment was really acceptable to three- 
fourths of the states then actually composing the union.j* 
(For to require the quasi- territories of the south to accept 
the amendment, and use their votes to force it upon north- 
ern states, would have been what lawyers call "sharp prac- 
tice.") 

881. When were the rest of the southern states admitted? 
In 1870; the states of Virginia, Mississippi and Texas, 

having complied with the requirements of congress, were 
declared reconstructed and their representatives were admitted 
to congress. 

882. Was this the end of federal legislation for the south? 

*The Republican national platform in 1868 declared that "The guar- 
anty by congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the south was de- 
manded by every consideration of public * safety, of gratitude and of 
justice, and must be maintained ; while the question of suffrage in the 
loyal states properly belongs to the people of those states." 

tThe disputed states were New York, Indiana and Georgia. New 
York revoked her ratification. In Indiana sixty-seven members of the 
house of representatives were necessary to legislate upon state affairs, 
but sixty-five members declared themselves a quorum to ratify the 
amendment. In Georgia, the state had been admitted on her ratifica- 
tion of the fourteenth amendment, but owing to the unseating of several 
colored members, congress had again remitted the state to military rule 
and demanded the ratification of the fifteenth amendment. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



167 



No; congress continued to legislate on behalf of the 

negro and southern Republicans, but of this legislation 

scarcely a trace remains. Most of its acts have expired 

by limitation and not a few were set aside as unconstitutional 
on appeal to the courts, 

883. What important treaty was concluded in 1871 ? 

The treaty of W ashington, intended to settle disputed ques- 
tions between England and America. 

884. What were these questions? 

They related to the so-called Alabama claims, to the 
Canadian fisheries, and to a disputed point in the northwest- 
ern boundary of the United States. 

885. What were the Alabama claims? 

Claims against England arising out of her alleged 
liability for the depredations of the Confederate cruisers 
that were built or equipped in English ports. 

886. Give the history of previous negotiations on this sub- 
ject. 

The list of individual claims had been presented to 
England in August, 1866, after a vain attempt to per- 
suade the English government to admit its liability, 
or submit the question to friendly arbitration. A treaty 
for the settlement of the said claims by a joint commis- 
sion was negotiated in 1868, but this was rejected by the 
United States senate. 

887. Why was it rejected? 

Because it was not considered sufficient satisfaction for 
the insult and injury that the United States had received. 
It did not admit that England was at fault, and even 
though England's liability for the damages done could 
have been shown, the projected commission could only 
pass upon the direct claims for loss; it could not consider the 
national claim for loss indirectly incurred. 

888. What was the nature of the indirect claims? 

The United States as a nation undoubtedly lost much 
by the hostility of the British government during the 
war. But in most cases England had acted within her 
own right (according to international law) and even 
where she had not, indemnity could only have been exacted by 
war. 

889. Was this generally recognized? 



i68 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



It was not; Americans were not willing to go to war 
about the matter, but they took the undignified attitude 
that their forgiveness and future friendship must be purchased 
with a good round sum. 

890. In view of this, what course did England take? 

To avoid the possibility of future complications, she 
desired to have the direct claims of individuals separated 
from the indirect and semi-sentimental claim of the 
nation, and to that end proposed — without committing 
herself on the question of her liability — to submit the 
disputed questions to a joint commission of the two nations. 

891. When and where did this commission meet? 

At Washington, D. C, in February, 1871, and there, 
after prolonged negotiation, a treaty was drawn up and signed 
covering all points in dispute. 

892. How were the Alabama claims disposed of? 

To save the dignity of the two nations, it was proposed 
to submit the question of damages to an international com- 
mission which was to meet at Geneva, Switzerland. But 
the main questions were settled by mutual concessions at 
Washington, so that the points actually submitted at Geneva 
were few and unimportant.* The amount of damages — a 
mere matter of calculation and assessment — was fixed by 
the Geneva board at $15,500,000, and this was paid by Eng- 
land to the United States for distribution to the individual 
claimants. 

893. How were other matters disposed of by the treaty? 
Claims by British subjects against the United States were 

to be settled by a joint commission to meet at Washington 
The fisheries question was settled for a term of years sub- 
ject to a claim for indemnity to be submitted to an inter- 
national commission; while the matter of the disputed 
boundary — between Washington Territory and Vancouver 
Island — was submitted to the judgment of the emperor of 
Germany, who decided in favor of the United States. 

894. What other important treaty was negotiated? 



*There was a farcical attempt made by the United States counsel to 
get the so-called hoard of arbitration to pass upon the "indirect claims'' 
which had been dropped in the negotiations. The very limited discre- 
tion given the board was made strikingiv apparent by their dealing 
with this matter. They were, in fact, not allowed to pass officially even 
upon their own jurisdiction over the question. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



A treaty for the annexation of San Domingo to the 
United States was negotiated by the president, but rejected 
by the senate. (The government of San Domingo was 
anxious for the annexation, and President Grant also favored 
it, but the measure was bitterly opposed by some of the 
party leaders in the senate, headed by Senator Sumner of 
Massachusetts.) 

895. Outside of politics, what was the chief event of Grant's 
first term ? 

The completion of the first Pacific railroad, making 
connection by rail between the east and the states of the 
Pacific coast. This enterprise had been greatly favored 
by the government, and had received political endorsement, 
as necessary to the public welfare. The opening of the 
road, in 1869, was made the occasion of public rejoicing 
throughout the country. 

896. What noteworthy conflagration occurred during this 
period ? 

The burning of a large part of Chicago Oct. 9-1 1, 1871, 
and another most destructive fire in Boston in November, 
1872. By the Chicago fire $200,000,000 worth of property 
was destroyed, and 100,000 people were left homeless. By 
the fire in Boston, property to the extent of $70,000,000 was 
consumed. 

897. During Grant's first term, what change occurred in the 
Democratic party platform? 

Though the Democrats had generally opposed the re- 
construction acts as unconstitutional, and denied the law- 
ful adoption of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, 
they saw plainly that these enactments could not be over- 
thrown in any way that the people of the north would 
tolerate. Hence, by what was called " a new departure," 
they recognized the de facto enactment both of the laws and 
the amendments, and thus conceded their validity. 

898. What other concession was made? 

The Democratic proposition to " pay the national debt 
[or a large share of it] in greenbacks" was withdrawn, 
after the "act to strengthen the public credit" of 1869, and 
the refunding acts of 1870 and 1871, had been passed; for 
these acts specifically and unmistakably pledged the pay- 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



ment of the entire bonded debt in coin.* 

899. What other changes occurred to affect the political 
outlook in 1872? 

A "Liberal Republican" movement had been started, first 
in a state election in Missouri, and afterward in national 
affairs. Its rallying points were denunciation of Grant's 
administration of the civil service, and condemnation of 
his (alleged) unconstitutional interference with affairs of 
the south in support of the southern Republican state gov- 
ernments. 

900. What action was taken by these Liberal- Republicans? 
A convention was called ,to meet at Cincinnati. The 

persons who took part in this convention were, for the most 
part self appointed to attpnd, but they represented the dis- 
satisfied element of the Republican party. This conven- 
tion adopted a platform expressing its views with regard to 
the south, but not otherwise differing from that of the old 
party. 

901. Who were the candidates put forward by this con- 
vention? 

Horace Greeley of New York, and Benjamin Gratz 
Brown of Missouri. Greeley was the editor of the New 
York Tribune. Brown had been one of the leaders of the 
Liberal Republican movement in Missouri, and had been 
elected governor of that state. 

902. On what did the Liberal Republicans base their hope 
of success? 

On the apparent demoralization of the Democratic party, 
which, they hoped, would lead that party to accept their 
platform and candidates. (This hope was, in a measure, 
fulfilled.) The endorsement asked for was given by the 
Democratic leaders in convention at Baltimore, but the bulk 
of the party refused to accept Greeley as their leader, and, 
generally speaking, neglected to vote at all. 

903. Who were the Republican candidates in 1872? 



*The position of each party in the presidential campaign of 1SC8 was 
precisely the reverse of the other : the Republicans held the normal law 
of payment of government obligations to bond-holders to be in coin, un- 
less payment in paper money had been previously agreed upon ; the 
Democrats held that all government obligations, incurred on an inflated 
greenback basis, might be discharged in paper unless payment in coin 
had been previously agreed upon. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



171 



The Republican convention, meeting at Philadelphia, 
re-nominated PresidentGrant, and chose Senator Henry M. 
Wilson of Massachusetts, for the second place on. the ticket 

904. What was the result of the election? 
Triumphant success for the Republicans, who carried 

thirty-one of the thirty-seven states, and most of these by 
large majorities. Yet the total Republican vote was but 
little larger than it had been in 1868, when three states were 
altogether excluded, and when the party obtained only 214 
(instead of 286) electoral votes. This result was plainly 
due to the large "stay-at-home vote" of the Democrats. 
This theory was still further supported by the result of the 
next congressional election in 1874. 

905. What was that result? 

A most remarkable change in the political complexion 
of congress. The position of the parties in the lower house 
of congress was completely reversed, sixty or seventy seats 
being lost by the Republicans. In the senate, too, the 
same party lost, not indeed the control of the body, but 
a total of nine votes, with the certainty of further loss when 
the terms of the southern senators expired. 

906. Had the political situation changed since 1872? 
Yes; there had been a financial panic, followed by a great 

depression of business. This, to some extent affected poli- 
tical views. There had, moreover, occurred numerous 
political scandals that cast discredit on the administration, 
and the party in power. As a result the Democrats were 
encouraged, and their former disgust and apathy seemed 
to have transferred itself to the Republican party. 

907. What was the result of this Democratic victory? 

Its chief result was a thorough overhauling of the ad- 
ministration by congressional investigating committees, and 
a still further discovery of dishonesty and malfeasance in 
office. The discoveries made astonished and disgusted the 
better class of Republican leaders, who, though by no means 
disposed to desert their party, showed no disposition to defend 
the condition of the civil service.* 



*"My own public life lias been a very brief and insignificant one, ex- 
tending little beyond the duration of a single term of senatorial office, 
but in that brief period I have seen five judges of a high court of the 
United States driven from office by threats of impeachment for corrup- 
tion or maladministration. * * * I have seen the chair- 
man of the committee on military affairs in the house, now a distin- 
guished member of this court,rise in his place and demand the expulsion 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



908. What trouble arose with Spain during Grant's ad- 
ministration ? 

In 1873, the Virginiusy an American vessel engaged in 
conveying reinforcements and munitions of war to Cuban 
rebels against Spain, was captured on the ocean by a 
Spanish vessel and taken to Cuba, where the crew and 
passengers were court-martialed and many of them put to 
death. The illegal seizure of the vessel (engaged though 
it was in unlawful trade) and especially the ferocity with 
which the prisoners were dealt with, was highly resented by 
the United States, and there was some talk of war. The 
matter was, however, diplomatically arranged and atoned for 
on the part of Spain. 

909. What Indian troubles occurred? 

A minor war was fought in 1873 to compel the Modoc 
Indians to leave their "lava bed" region, near Klamath 
Lake, in Southern Oregon, and go on a government reserva- 
tion. In this war, Gen. Canby and other officers were killed, 
but the Indians were finally taken. In 1876 another war 
was rashly provoked to bring the Ogallala Sioux under 
Sitting Bull, under subjection. In this strife Gen. Custer 
and a regiment of cavalry, were every one killed in a battle 
near Big Horn river, Southern Montana. (The Indians 
retreated to British America where they remained till 1881, 
when they returned to their reservation.) 

910. What state was admitted during this administration? 
Colorado. This territory was organized in 1861, three 

years after the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak. There was 
an attempt to rush it into the union in 1865-66, to strength- 



en four of his associates for making sale of their official privilege of se- 
lecting the youths to be educated at our great military school. When 
the greatest railroad of the world, binding together the continent, and 
uniting the two seas that wash our shores, was finished, I have seen our 
national triumph and exultation turned to bitterness and shame by the 
unanimous reports of three committees of congress— two of the house 
and one here— that every step of that mighty enterprise had been taken 
in fraud. I have heard, in highest places,the shameless doctrine avowed 
by men grown old in public office, that the true way by which power 
should be gained in the republic is to bribe the people with the offices 
created for their service, and the true end for which it should be used 
when gained is the promotion of selfish ambition and the gratification 
of personal revenge. I have heard that suspicion haunts the footsteps 
of the trusted companions of the president. These things have passed 
into history. The Hallam, or the Tacitus, or the Sismondi, or the 
Macaulav who writes the annals of our time will record them with his 
inexorable pen."— Senator G. F. Hoar in 1876. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



T 73 



en the party in power, but the bill was vetoed by the pres- 
ident. The territory then contained about 28,000 popu- 
lation and even this was said to be diminishing. When 
finally admitted, ten years later, the population reached 
nearly 130,000, and its resources were greatly developed. 

911. Whence the name of this state? 

From its principal river; the name signifies red or ruddy. 

912. What notable anniversary was celebrated in 1876? 
The centennial of the signing of the declaration of inde 

pendence. An international exposition was held at Phila- 
delphia, from May until November, and this was made 3 
great affair, and was visited by nearly ten million people. 

913. Who were the candidates in the presidential election 
of 1876? 

The Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden of New York, 
and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana. The Republicans put 
up Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and William A. Wheeler of 
'New York. (Candidates were also nominated by the minor 
parties, but the vote for them was insignificant.) 

914. What was the result of the election? 

There was a long wrangle over the legal result, which was 
finally carried to congress for settlement. In the November 
election the Democrats carried at the north the states of In- 
diana, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and at the 
south they were conceded all the states but South Carolina, 
Florida and Louisiana. This gave them, beyond dispute, 184 
of the 369 electoral votes. They also claimed to have carried 
South Carolina, and had, "upon the face of the returns" good 
majorities in Florida and Louisiana. The Republicans, how- 
ever disputed the returns, alleging that intimidation had been 
used to effect the Democratic triumph. 

915. How could the matter be remedied? 

It could not be remedied. The only remedy for an unfair 
election would be to hold it over again, and that was impos- 
sible. Moreover, the Democrats were unwilling to admit that 
intimidation could have affected the result, and the Republi- 
cans, of course, could not prove it. 

916. Why need the votes of those states be counted? 
There was good precedent for the exclusion of the electoral 

votes of disputed states, but the votes of all the states in ques- 
tion were necessary to the election of a Republican president. 
(Even with these votes Hayes would have but one majority ) 



i74 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



917. Was there any way of gaining these necessary votes? 
Yes; Republican state governments had, up to this time, 

been maintained in the three disputed states partly by the 
consent of the people and partly by the military support of 
the federal government. To perpetuate their power, these 
governments had given to the state "returning," or canvassing, 
boards extraordinary authority over the returns sent in. In 
some cases they could upon properly certified proof of public 
disturbance at the polls, throw out or exclude the entire vote 
from the precinct. 

918. How were these powers exercised in 1876? 

Most arbitrarily, and with no deference to Democratic or 
even non-partisan opinion. As a consequence, any belief that 
the count in the disputed southern states, in 1876, was honest, 
must rest entirely upon faith, without regard to evidence.* 

919. What was the result in the states? 

Hayes and Wheeler were said to have received 185 electoral 
votes, and Tilden and Hendricks 184. 

920. How did the matter come before congress? 
Congress has always claimed the right to decide disputes 

about the electoral votes, and the rule, since 1865, had been 
that "no electoral vote objected to shall be counted except by 
the concurrent vote of the two houses." This rule was not 
compulsory, and the Republicans, for obvious reasons, repudi- 
ated it. It was still necessary, however, for the two houses 
to agree upon the count, as otherwise no canvass of the elect- 
oral votes would be legal, and no president at all could be 
legally declared elected. 

921. What was done? 



*In Florida two of the three state canvassers at first certified to a 
majority of 926 for the Hayes electors. A second canvass, made by 
order of the legislature (after the legal points had been decided by the 
state supreme court) gave a majority of ninety -four for the Democratic 
electors. In Louisiana the "face of the returns" gave a Democratic 
majority of 6,549 ; the returning board— excluding over 13,000 Democrat- 
ic,and 2,000 Republican, votes— certified to a Republican majority of 
4,807, Moreover, it cannot be denied that most of the polls were illegally 
thrown out, upon charges made after the returns had been sent in. In 
accepting the Louisiana canvass as fair,we are required to believe that, 
in scores of cases, intimidation which escaped the notice of Republican 
registration and election officers, was afterwards shown to have changed 
the result of the election. A more plausible theory is that the Re- 
publicans believed themselves entitled to Louisiana on account oi its 
large negro vote, and accepted any evidence as sufficient to exclude a 
Democratic poll. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



175 



Unwilling to see the country disturbed and somewhat fear- 
ful that President Grant would usurp the power to decide 
matters, the Democrats proposed to leave the question to a 
joint commission of the two parties. After considerable de- 
bate this was agreed to, and an electoral commission of fifteen 
members was appointed. 

922. How were these members chosen? 

Five were chosen by the senate, five by the house and five 
by the federal supreme court from among its own judges. It 
was agreed that the decision of this commission was to stand 
unless overruled by the vote of both houses. 

923. What was the political complexion of the commission ? 
It contained eight Republicans and seven Democrats. (It 

had been proposed that the fifteenth man should be a non- 
partisan — David Davis of the supreme court — but as Davis 
had just been elected senator from Illinois by Democratic 
votes, he considered it more honorable to decline the place, 
and Judge Bradley was chosen.) 

924. How was the matter brought before the commission? 
From each of the disputed states at the south two sets of 

electoral votes had been sent — one set cast by the Repub- 
lican electors and the other by their Democratic opponents. 
The question raised was whether congress should accept 
the canvass of the state boards without question, or whether 
it should consider the evidence offered that the canvass had 
been unjust and unfair. This was the question to be decided 
by the commission. 

925. How was it decided? 

The commission voted— eight Republicans to seven Demo- 
crats — that the canvass as well as the balloting was a state af- 
fair, and that congress could not u go behind the returns,"* to 



*This gives the purport of their decisions only. To show the particu- 
lar argument, we quote from the decision ruling out evidence in the 
Florida case : Held, That it is not competent under the constitution 
and law as it existed at the date of the passage of the act constituting 
this commission to go into evidence aliunde the papers opened by the 
president of the senate in the presence of the two houses, to prove that 
other persons than those regularly certified to by the governor of Flor- 
ida, according to the determination and declaration of their appoint- 
ment by the board of state canvassers prior to the time required for the 
performance of their duties, had been appointed electors, or by counter 
proof to show they had not, and that all proceedings of courts or acts of 
the legislature, or of the executive of Florida, subsequent to the casting 
of the votes of electors on the prescribed day, are inadmissible for any 
such purpose. 



176 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



inquire into either the fairness of the election or the honesty 
of the canvass. 

926. What was the Oregon complication? 

A legal matter The Republicans had undoubtedly carried 
the state, but one of the electors voted for was legally in- 
eligible. The governor — a Democrat — declared that this 
ineligibility nullified the vote cast for the Republican and 
elected his Democratic opponent. The Republicans claimed 
that it only created a vacancy which the two Republican 
electors proceeded to fill. In deciding this point, also, the 
commission by a strict party vote, favored the Republican 
party. 

927. What was the final outcome? 

The majority of the commission allowed Hayes and 
Wheeler 185 electoral votes and the houses could not agree 
in changing the decision. Hence Hayes was inaugurated 
president of the United States. 

92S. What can you say of the successful candidates? 

Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Ohio in 1822. 
He became a lawyer; served in the army during the war 
and attained the rank of brigadier-general. Served in con- 
gress in 1865 7 and as governor of Ohio in 1868-72 and 
1876-7. Wm. A. Wheeler was born in New York in 1819; 
was a New York congressman from 1861 to 1876. 



CHAPTER XXI.— HAYES' ADMINISTRATION. 

928. How long was Hayes president? 

One term of four years only; from March 5, 1877 to March 
4, 1881. 

929. How did President Hayes begin his administration? 
By making extraordinary and unexpected concessions to 

the opposition. In his inaugural address he declared in favor 
of a new policy toward the southern states — an abstention 
from interference in state affairs by the federal government. 
His cabinet, too, contained one Southern Democrat and sev- 
eral by-no means stalwart Republicans. 

930. What was the most noteworthy feature of his southern 
policy ? 

His abandonment of the Republican state governments in 
the southern states which had been counted for his party by 
the electoral commission. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



177 



931. State the circumstances. 

In Florida there was no dispute, as the state supreme court 
had intervened and had given the state to the Democrats. But 
in South Carolina and Louisiana the Republicans maintained 
governments and demanded federal recognition and support. 
In Florida the supreme court (of Republican origin) had 
held the action of the returning board in counting in the 
Republican candidates illegal, and, months before the elec- 
toral count, there was no longer any legal support for the 
claim that Hayes had carried Florida. In South Carolina the 
legislature was empowered to count the vote for governor. 
The state canvassers had refused certificates to eight Demo- 
crats in order to make the legislature Republican. This was 
in defiance of an order of the state supreme court which there- 
upon imprisoned the canvassers and issued court certificates 
in place of those refused. 

932. Did that settle the dispute? 

No ; rival legislatures were organized and rival state gov- 
ernments were set up. President Grant refused to decide the 
matter, but for four months kept a body of United States 
troops at Columbia charged to resist any attempt, legal or il- 
legal, to forcibly disturb existing conditions. 

933. How were matters settled in Louisiana? 

In Louisiana the Republican candidate f or governor,Stephen 
B. Packard, had, on the face of the returns, 2,366 more votes 
than were given to the Hayes electors; so that the action of 
the returning board gave him the appearance of being elected 
by a large majority. The same canvass gave the Republicans 
a majority in the state legislature. A rival canvass was made 
by a "citizens' committee," and the result was altogether in 
favor ol the Democrats. Jan. 1, S. B. Packard and F. T. 
Nicholls were both inaugurated as governor, and rival bodies, 
each claiming to be the state legislature, were duly organized. 
Both state governments demanded recognition by the presi- 
dent, and Packard also demanded troops to put down the op- 
position to his authority. 

934. What did President Grant do in this case? 

As in South Carolina, he refused to decide and used his 
power simply to maintain existing conditions until Hayes was 
inaugurated. The new president, therefore, found rival gov- 
ernments both in South Carolina and in Louisiana. 

935. How did President Hayes deal with the South Carolina 
case ? 



i 7 8 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



He simply withdrew all attempt at federal interference and 
in thirty days D. H. Chamberlain sailed for New York, desert- 
ed by all his former adherents. There was no violence, there 
was no need of violence, as the courts— though originally 
Republican — had decided in favor of Governor Wade Hamp- 
ton. The result fully justified the president's course, accord- 
ing to precedents set by President Grant in similar cases. 

936. How was the Louisiana case dealt with? 

In Louisiana, neither party had been allowed to establish a 
de facto government and, therefore, it still remained for the 
president to decide which party had the best claim to control 
the state. Had Mr. Hayes desired — as the majority of his 
party desired and expected — to keep the party in power in 
Louisiana, he might legally have done so by the recognition 
of Packard, on the same ground that sufficed' for the electoral 
commission in recognizing the Hayes electors. 

937. Did he do so? 

He did not. He sent a commission to the state to "bring 
about the removal of obstructions to an acknowledgment of 
one government" and this commission rallied an undoubted 
quorum of the legislature in recognition of the Nicholls' 
government This done, Nicholls became governor de 
facto if not also de jure, and was so recognized. 

938. How was the president's decision received? 

It was naturally applauded by the enemies of the carpet- 
bag governments, but criticised by many stalwart Repub- 
licans as an "unwise and unwarranted act."* It was even 
charged that Hayes and his friends had secured the acquies- 
cence of the southern members of congress in the electoral 
count, by pledging the sacrifice of Packard but this was denied 
by the Ohio members/)" 

939. How was this matter revived during Hayes's adminis- 
tration ? 



*So writes Mr. Blaine, who says : "The election of the president and 
the election of Mr. Packard rested substantially upon the same founda- 
tion, and many Republicans felt that the president's refusal to recog- 
nize Mr. Packard furnished ground to his enemies for disputing his 
own election." 

tMajor E. A. Burke, of New Orleans, acting as Nicholls' agent in 
Washington in February, 1877, describes in his letters and despatches 
the conclusion of this alleged bargain between his faction and "Sher- 
man, Matthews, Garfield and Foster," from whom he says he has re- 
ceived "written guarantees." 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



179 



By the Potter investigation, conducted by a committee of 
the forty-sixth congress, headed by Clarkson N. Potter of 
New York. The result of the investigation was a thorough 
overhauling of the election of 1876 in the disputed states. 
In one sense all such investigation must be considered use- 
less, since the decision of the electoral commission was re- 
garded as final. But it was considered good party policy 
to keep the "frauds of 1876" before the people until 1880. 

940. What exposure of Democratic villany occurred to off- 
set this? 

The publication of the Democratic "cipher despatches." 
These were culled from some 7C0 political telegrams which 
had been "retained" by an employe of a congressional 
committee in 1876, when some 30,000 similar despatches 
"mostly in cipher," had been laid before the committee by 
the Western Union Telegraph Company. The telegrams 
which were finally translated and given to the public, had 
passed between Democrats in the east and their accomplices 
in the south, during the canvass of the disputed states by the 
returning boards. 

941. What was the purport of these despatches? 

They showed the existence of a plot to bribe the mem- 
bers of the returning boards to give a decision in favor of 
Tilden and Hendricks. This failing, a similar ineffectual 
effort was made to purchase electoral votes. (It is note- 
worthy, perhaps, that throughout the disputed contest of 
1876, when all sorts of motives, good, bad, and indifferent, 
appealed to the individual, no one in any degree wavered 
in his service to his party.) 

942. Who was implicated by the exposure of the cipher 
despatches? 

The persons who had actually taken part in the plot 
were not prominent members of the party, but as one of 
them was Mr. Tilden's nephew, there was some effort 
made to show that the Democratic candidate was cog- 
nizant of the attempted bribery. He testified under oath 
to his ignorance, and those who believed in his upright- 
ness, believed his testimony. The affair was, generally 
speaking, accepted as damaging to the reputation both of 
the candidate and of the party, however slight may have 
been their moral responsibility for the scandal. 

943. What was the second marked feature of President 
Hayes' administration? 



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THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



His civil service reform policy. The question of a re- 
form in the civil service had been raised six years before, 
and a half-hearted attempt was made by President Grant to 
establish rules for the admission of persons to the lower 
grades of the service, but the reform was soon abandoned. 
President Hayes took up the matter more energetically. 

944. What did he do? 

He directed competitive examinations for certain classes 
of positions in the service, the place to be aw arded to the 
successful competitor, without regard to politics. He also 
prohibited to officeholders active participation in political 
campaigns. (The object of the proposed reform was to secure 
the appointment of fit persons, and to ensure to these perman- 
ent tenure of office during good behavior.) 

945. Was the reform successful? 

The president lacking the support of congress, did not 
accomplish much, but he began the reform substantially as 
it was afterwards continued. 

946. What political questions arose at this time? 

The "silver question" and the agitation for the exclusion 
of the Chinese. 

947. What was the silver question, and how did it present it- 
self? 

In 1873, congress demonetized the silver dollar, i. e. de- 
prived it of its legal tender character and struck it from 
the list of coins of the United States. This attracted little 
attention at that time. Other countries were demonetizing 
silver, and there was a theoretical opinion in favor of "a 
single standard" — the gold dollar — as a basis for our paper 
currency. But by 187S the comparative value of gold 
and silver had changed, so that the silver dollar was worth 
from ten to fifteen per cent less than the gold dollar. 
This made the people, and especially the debtor class, 
greatly discontented. Owing to the contraction of the 
currency, money was becoming more difficult to obtain, 
and consequently more valuable as compared with other 
commodities. The impending resumption of specie pay- 
ments would, it was thought, still further reduce the vol- 
ume of the currency. Hence there arose a popular clamor 
for the remonetization of silver, 

948. What was the objection to this? 

Objections were made on politico-economical grounds, and 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



181 



also on the practical basis of injury to the "creditor class" — u e. 
those who, whether rich or poor, had money owing to 
them. Finally, the interests of the "debtors'" and property 
owners generally, who desired high prices, prevailed, and 
in 1878 a bill remonetizing the silver dollar was passed, 
vetoed by the president, and repassed over his veto. 

949. What was the nature of the bill and why was it vetoed? 
The Bland silver bill (so-called from its chief promoter, — 

R. P. Bland of Missouri) provided for a legal tender silver 
dollar of 412^ grains, — but not for the free, or unlimited 
coinage of the same. A monthly coinage of not less than 
$2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 was directed, in order 
that the inflation of the currency might be graded and 
prolonged. President Hayes vetoed the bill, saying that 
"the silver dollar authorized is worth eight or ten per cent 
less than it purports to be worth and is made a legal tender 
for debts contracted when the law did not recognize such 
coin as lawful money." 

950. What answer was made to this argument? 

The silver men maintained that gold has risen in value 
rather than that silver had fallen, and that therefore there 
was no dishonesty or injustice to creditors in their measure. 
It was also argued that, what with the limited silver coin- 
age, and the rise in silver caused by the new demand, it 
would be many years before there would be any difference 
in the value of the two dollars. 

951. How far has the latter argument been justified? 
After ten years the two coins still circulate at par. This 

is mainly owing to the inflow of gold into this country 
and to the abundant revenues of the government, on ac- 
count of which there has never been any occasion for refusing 
payment in gold when desired, or for putting a premium on 
the gold desired for export. 

952. What was the Chinese immigration question? 

The extensive immigration of Chinese laborers to this 
country began after the conclusion of the Burlingame 
treaty in 1868, and in a few years showed its natural effect 
in reducing wages on the Pacific coast. As wages there 
had been very high, there was at first little disposition to 
listen to the complaints of the workingmen against having 
to compete with "Chinese cheap labor." But the question of 
excluding the Chinese soon became a political one, and 
attempts were made to bring it up in congress. Finally, 



l82 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



in 1878, a bill was passed restricting the importation of 
Chinese to fifteen for each vessel, and ordering the per- 
emptory abrogation of those clauses of the Burlingame 
treaty which recognized the right of Chinamen to visit and 
reside in this country. 

953. Did the president approve this bill? 

He did not; he vetoed it on the ground that it was a 
violation of existing treaties with China. The bill was 
thus defeated, but the president began negotiations with 
China which resulted, in 1881, in a modification of the 
Burlingame treaty, permitting our restriction or prohibition 
of further Chinese immigration for a term of twenty years, 
and laws restricting such immigration were subsequently 
passed. 

954. What were the labor troubles of 1877? 

During the summer of 1877 there were many labor strikes, 
especially among railroad employes. The strikers, in some 
places, refused to allow trains to run. In Pittsburgh, Chi- 
cago, St. Louis, and other cities, riots occurred, and these 
were suppressed only by the help of federal troops. (In 
Pittsburgh, for instance, the riots continued three or four 
days; 100 lives were lost and $3,000,000 worth of property 
was destroyed.) 

955. What troubles occurred with the Indians? 

In 1877 an attempt was made to cajole or coerce a por- 
tion of the Nez Perce Indians to leave their hunting 
grounds and go (with the remainder of the tribe) on a limited 
reservation. They rebelled and went on the war path. 
Gen. O. O. Howard with a body of troops marched against 
the hostiles who attempted to escape by flight first to the 
southeast, and then through Montana to British America. 
They were pursued for 1,500 miles, captured and taken to 
Indian Territory. 

956. What was the condition of business during this ad- 
ministration? 

It began with disorder and depression, but became satisfac- 
tory, though by no means buoyant, towards its close. In 
1879, according to appointment, the government resumed 
specie payments, offering to redeem its legal tender notes, 
on presentation, in coin. This was accomplished without 
disturbance to business, a fact which tended to encourage 
investors. 

957. What did the census of 1880 show? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY, 



183 



It showed a remarkable increase in the population — some 
eleven millions since 1870 — the total population of the union 
rising above fifty millions. 

958. Did it not also show a most profitable decade in 
business? 

The aggregate of invested capital reported, showed a 
mighty increase over that of 1870, and on this had been based 
the assumption that the business of the country has passed 
a most profitable decade. As a matter of fact the profits on 
invested capital had steadily declined, as was shown by the 
marked lowering of the rate of interest. (The marked in- 
crease in "capital" is explained by increased estimation 
placed upon real estate, especially in the west and south.) 

959. How had the rate of interest declined? 

From 8 and 10 per cent in 1870, the rate declined to 6 and 
7 in 1880. The government, refunding its debt, found it 
difficult to borrow at 5 per cent in 1870; easy to borrow at 
4^ and 4 per cent a few years later when the bulk of the 
debt was refunded, and toward the end of the decade bor- 
rowed readily at 3^ and even 3 per cent. In addition to 
this, the government bonds held abroad were called home 
by the increasing demand for them on the part of American 
investors. 

960. What notable inventions were made or perfected during 
this period ? 

The telephone and electric light may be mentioned 
among those in use by 1880. Also the typewriter, for 
several years regarded as a toy; as the phonograph now 
is. Likewise elevated and cable street railways, the one 
coming into use in New York and the other in San Fran- 
cisco. Among the triumphs of inventive skill may 
also be mentioned the jetties which now keep the mouth 
of the Mississippi river open to navigation by sea-going 
vessels. 

961. Who were the candidates in the presidential election 
of 1880? 

The Republican convention met at Chicago, and after a 
long wrangle, —caused by an attempt to nominate Gen. 
Grant for a third term — nominated James A. Garfield of 
Ohio., and Chester A. Arthur of New York. The Democratic 
convention met at Cincinnati and nominated Gen. Winfield S. 
Hancock of Pennsylvania, and William H. English of 
Indiana. (The National Greenback party nominated James 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



B. Weaver of Iowa, and B. J. Chambers of Texas; but 
these, though they received over 300,000 of the popular 
vote, carried none of the states.) 

962. Why did the Democrats not- renominate Tilden and 
Hendricks? 

Partly on account of the ill-health of Tilden (who, 
indeed, declined to be a candidate) and partly it may be 
assumed, because they did not care to revive the scandal of 
the "cipher despatches." 

963. What can you say of the campaign of 1880? 

It was hotly contested. The Democrats assailed Gar- 
field's reputation for honesty but without avail. Garfield 
proved especially strong with the Independents in the 
doubtful states of New York and Indiana where Hancock 
and English could not, it appeared, control the normal 
strength of their party. Finally, there was a partly suc- 
cessful attempt to stampede the labor vote into the Repub- 
lican party by the cry of "free trade," and a still more 
disreputable attempt to counterbalance this by publishing 
an alleged letter from Garfield approving Chinese immi- 
gration to compete with home labor. 

964. Why was the latter more disreputable than the former? 
Nothing can be said against the free-trade scare except 

the insincerity of its promoters, but even had the "Morey 
letter" been genuine, (it is now conceded to be a forgery) 
there was nothing in it of which Garfield need have been 
ashamed.* If, in the hands of demagogues, it influenced 
the labor vote of the Pacific States, its work was done by an 
appeal to blind hatred of the Chinese. 

965. What was the result of the election? 

Garfield and Arthur secured 214 electoral votes to 155 
given for Hancock and English. Outside of the "solid 



*The following is the text of the letter alleged to have been written 
by James A. Garfield, representative in congress, under date of Jan. '23, 
1880, to H. L. Morey (a fictitious personage;, Employers' Union, Lynn, 
Mass. : "Dear Sir : Yours in relation to the Chinese problem came 
duly to hand. I take it that the question of employes is only a question 
of private and corporate economy, and individuals or companies have 
the right to buy labor where they can get it the cheapest. We have a 
treaty with the Chinese government which should be religiously kept 
until its provisions are abrogated by the action of the general govern- 
ment, and I am not prepared to say that it should be abrogated until 
our great manufacturing and corporate interests are conserved in the 
matter of labor. Very truly yours > J« A. Garfield." 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



185 



south" Hancock secured only the vote of Nevada, and five 
of the six electoral votes of California. 

966. What can you say of the successful candidates? 

James Abram Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831. 
He became a school teacher, a college professor, and a 
lawyer ; entered the army in 1861 and rose to the rank of 
major general. Was notably well informed in politics, 
had been in congress since the war, and was, at the time of his 
nomination, senator-elect from Ohio. Chester Alan Arthur 
was born in Vermont in 1830. Was a lawyer by pro- 
fession but chiefly known as a New York state politi- 
cian and whilom collector of the port of New York. 



chapter xxii. — garfield's and Arthur's administra- 
tions. 

967. How long was Garfield president? 

A little over six months. He was inaugurated March 4, 
1881, and died the 19th of the September following. 

968. What caused his death? 

A shot from the pistol of Charles J. Guiteau, received July 
2, 1881. Guiteau was tried and executed for the crime the 
following year. He was considered responsible for his acts, 
though undoubtedly weak-headed. 

969. What led to the assassination ? 

A wrangle between party factions over appointments to office, 
accompanied by indiscriminate abuse of the president. Gui- 
teau affirmed that he killed Garfield to "make Arthur president 
and unite the Republican party." He was himself a disap- 
pointed office-seeker, but, beyond this, had no cause for personal 
enmity toward the president. 

970. What was the extent of the trouble over the offices? 

• It arose out of the attempt of Senators Conkling and Piatt 
of New York state to prevent the appointment of W. H. 
Robertson as collector of the port of New York. (Robertson 
led an opposing faction, and had thwarted Conkling in his 
attempt to nominate Grant for a third term, and thus aided 
in the nomination of Garfield.) Conkling and Piatt, being 
unable to defeat Robertson's appointment, resigned their seats 
and appealed to the state legislature to "vindicate" them by 
re-election. Failing to secure this ratification of their course, 
they retired from politics. 

971. Who succeeded Garfield? 



i86 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



Vice-president Arthur. He took the oath of office Sept, 20^ 
1881, and served till March 4, 1885. 

972. Did this cause any special change in the administra^ 
tion ? 

Arthur belonged to the Conkling faction, and was, in a way, 
opposed to Garfield's administration, of which James G. Blaine, 
then secretary of state, was a leading spirit. He made com- 
paratively few changes in the civil service. Blaine and most 
of the other members of the cabinet retired, but there wa* no 
attempt to remove subordinates on account of the quarrel be- 
tween the party leaders. 

973. How did Blaine's retirement affect matters? 

It modified our foreign policy somewhat. Blaine was in- 
clined to assert the authority of the United States over other 
countries of the Western Hemisphere, to a greater extent 
than had been customary. By the new administration this 
assertion of jurisdiction was withdrawn. 

974. What was the Darien canal question? 

In i88i,the DeLesseps Canal Company was formed to con- 
struct a ship canal across the isthmus of Darien. The United 
States immediately put forward a claim of suzerainty over the 
canal — a claim that was denied both by the canal company 
and by Colombia (the territorial sovereign of the enterprise) 
and also refused recognition from England and France. 

975. Upon what was our claim based? 

On our interest in the control of the canal, growing out of 
our Pacific coast line. These made it desirable for us to own 
a canal, in order that we might send war vessels from one 
ocean to the other. 

976. Was not England in the same predicament? 

Yes; England had an Atlantic and a Pacific coast to defend 
in her American possessions, and in recognition of this fact 
she had, in 1850, negotiated a treaty with the United States 
that the neutrality of the canal was to be guaranteed by joint 
national protectorate in which all commercial nations should 
be asked to join. (The United States had changed her mind 
and wished to put aside this treaty as obsolete.) 

977. What rival project of interoceanic communication 
were discussed at this time? 

A ship canal across Nicaragua, following the river San 
Juan, and Lake Nicaragua; also a ship-railway across the 
isthmus of Tehuantepec. The Nicaragua route was longer 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



187 



than that at Panama but by the use of locks the canal could 
be made more cheaply. The ship railway was designed to 
transport ships overland on cars — a novel scheme, and one 
that many engineers pronounced impracticable. 

978. Who was secretary of the treasury under Garfield and 
what was his debt-refunding scheme? 

William Windom of Minnesota. -* The forty-sixth congress 
had passed a refunding bill but it had been vetoed by Presi- 
dent Hayes. Windom, therefore, found himself without legal 
authority to refund, though by so doing he could save the 
government a large share of its interest charge. He there- 
fore called in the bonds and re-issued them by endorsement 
at 3% per cent — an extra legal process, but one which suc- 
ceeded because the bondholders preferred to take lower inter- 
est rather than surrender their bonds for payment. 

979. Why did the treasury not pay the bonds and stop the 
interest wholly? 

Because it had not the money for more than a fraction. To 
induce bondholders to consent to the arrangement, the treas- 
ury engaged to call the extended bonds in reverse order, so 
that the bonds first extended would have the longest run. As 
it was certain that the government could borrow all the 
money it needed at zYz or even 3 per cent, Mr. Windom's 
scheme was a success. 

980. Did congress endorse Secretary Windom's action? 
Yes; the next congress promptly passed a refunding bill 

authorizing a three per cent bond to complete the refunding 
of the old bonds and as many of the extended bonds as could 
be again refunded. 

981. What were the "star route" frauds of 1879-80? 

The "star routes" are those over which the mail is carried 
otherwise than by rail. In 1881 it was discovered that the 
annual cost of ninety-five of these routes had been unwarrant- 
ably increased at a cost to the government of over a million 
dollars. Prominent officials and politicians were implicated 
and tried for conspiracy to defraud the government, but 
though the evidence was strong, the jury failed to convict 
them. 

982. What was the object of the international monetary 
conference of 1881 ? 

In 1881 an attempt was made, (and it has since been repeat- 
ed, though with little hope of success) to bring about an inter- 



.88 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



national agreement as to the ratio of silver to gold in coinage. 
A conference of commissioners was held at Paris in April, 
1881, but after repeated adjournments extending a year or 
more at a time the conference was abandoned. There ap- 
peared no general demand for an equivalent coinage of silver, 
and international exchanges have continued to be reckoned in 
gold. ^ 

983. What was the tariff revision attempted in 1882-83? 

In 1882, congress authorized a commission to be appointed 
to consider a revision of the tariff with a view to a general re- 
duction of duties. The commission was a protectionist meas- 
ure designed to prevent injury to America industries through 
the tariff reduction then supposed to be inevitable. 

984. What did the commission accomplish? 

It conducted an investigation lasting from June to Decem- 
ber, 1882, and then reported a scheme designed to reduce the 
revenue 20 per cent and also to some extent lower the scale 
of protection. 

985. Was this proposal accepted? 

No; the interests affected protested against it. The last 
dollar of protection given soon becomes as necessary as the 
first, owing to home competition, and a general cry was raised 
against any reduction. 

986. Did congress not act in the matter? 

Yes; in 1883 a tariff bill was passed so as to lower the rev- 
enue somew^hat, without injury or offense to the "protected" 
classes. 

987. What was the civil service reform bill of 1883? 

This was a bill introduced by Mr. Pendleton of Ohio in 1880. 
It authorized the appointment of a commission of three to 
aid the president in preparing rules for the administration of 
the civil service. These rules were ordered to establish ad- 
mission to the service by competitive examinations, tenure 
during good behavior for a fixed term, and promotion on a 
basis of merit and competition. Both the collection and pay- 
ment of political assesments are forbidden under penalty of 
fine and imprisonment, and no officeholder can be removed or 
otherwise prejudiced for failing to contribute to party cam- 
paign funds. 

988. What was the Edmunds anti-polygamy bill of 1882? 
Popular feeling against the Mormons resulted, in June, 1882, 



UNHED STATES HISTORY. 



189 



in the passage of a stringent anti-polygamy bill. It attacked 
polygamy both directly as a crime and indirectly as treason 
to the republic, and deprived all Mormons of many of their 
ordinary political rights. It was recognized as oppressive, 
but was accepted because its efficacy in suppressing polygamy 
was believed in. 

989. What polar expeditions came to grief during Arthur's 
administration? 

The "Jeannette" expedition, sent out in 1879 by the propri- 
etors of the New York Herald, to explore the arctic seas north 
of Behring Strait; and the Greely expedition, located at Lady 
Franklin Bay, Grinneiland, by the United States government 
in 1881. 

990. Describe the mishaps of the Jeannette expedition. 
The ship Jeannette, commanded by Capt. De Long, was 

caught in the ice soon after reaching the arctic seas, and, after 
drifting northwest some months, was crushed and sunk June 
11, 1881, 300 miles from the northern coast of Siberia. The 
crew escaped in three boats, of which two reached the delta of 
the Lena river. One party made their way to settlements 
and were saved. Of the other boat load (commanded by De 
Long himself) all but two perished from cold and hunger. 

991 c What was the Lady Franklin Bay expedition and why 
was it sent out? 

It was one of a number of parties stationed within the arc- 
tic circle in accordance with the recommendation of the inter- 
national polar conference of 1879. Its work was mainly sci- 
entific observation of meteoric and other phenomena. 

992. How did it come to grief? 

Altogether through the blundering of the government offi- 
cials charged with the rescue of the expedition in 1883. Lieut. 
Greely and his command of twenty-four men had been 
ordered when left at Lady Franklin Bay, in 1881, to remain 
there till the fall of 1883 and then march overland to the head 
of Smith Sound, as the ice might prevent the relief ship from 
passing the strait northward. This he did, but one relief ship, 
the Proteus, was crushed and sunk just after passing the 
strait, and the survivors hastened back to Upernavik and from 
there returned home on the Yantic, making no provision for 
the relief of Greely. 

993. Who was held to blame for this action? 

The officers in command of the relief expedition plead that 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



they had obeyed strict orders from the war department, and a 
court of inquiry acquitted them. Censure then fell on the 
signal office, which should have foreseen possible disaster and 
issued orders accordingly. 

994. What was the fate of Greely and his party ? 

They reached Cape Sabine soon after the retreat of the re- 
lief expedition, and endeavored to winter there. When rescued, 
by a second expedition, the following June, seventeen of the 
band of twenty-four had perished of cold and hunger. 

995. What became of the surviving officers of these unfort- 
unate expeditions? 

Lieut. Danenhower of the Jeannette became an instructor 
in the Annapolis Naval Academy, where he stayed till his 
death in 1887. Engineer Melville, also of the Jeannette, is 
now engineer in chief of the navy. Lieut. A. W. Greely is 
now a brigadier general and at the head of the signal office of 
the war department. 

996. What is the weather bureau of the signal service? 

It is a distinct function of the government service that has 
grown out of a resolution passed by congress in 1870. The 
reporting of the weather signs and the forecasting of weather 
probabilities has been for ten years a recognized duty of the 
signal office. The prevalence of cyclones in the west and 
south in 1882-83 caused these to be included among the objects 
of study by the official weather observers. 

997. What was the "standard time" system adopted by rail- 
roads in 1883? 

In November, 1883, many railways in this country adopted 
a uniform system of reckoning time, based upon solar time at 
four given meridians. Eastern time is reckoned at the 75th 
meridian; central time, at the 90th; mountain time, at the 
105th, and Pacific time, at the 120th. The difference in time 
between these meridians is just one hour. 

998. What changes in the postal service were made in 1883? 
In the fall of 1883, letter postage was reduced from three 

cents to two cents, per half ounce, and the postal note for the 
transmission of money was introduced. 

999. What was the trouble concerning Oklahoma in 
1881-82? 

In 1880, it became known that the title to Oklahoma, in the 
central part of Indian Territory, was still vested in the United 
States, by whom it was held in trust for settlement by Indians. 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



Immediately, concerted attempts were made by settlers to 
colonize the country, in the hope of forcing congress to open 
the territory to settlement. The government has always op- 
posed the settlement, as it is in duty bound to do, but a bill 
has been introduced in congress to organize Oklahoma with 
the western part of Indian Territory into a separate territory 
for settlement by whites. 

1000. What Indian troubles occurred during Arthur's ad- 
ministration ? 

There was an outbreak of the Apache Indians in Arizona 
and New Mexico in the spring of 1883. It was promptly sub- 
dued by Gen. George Crook and the hostiles returned to the 
reservation. 

1001. What colossal monument was dedicated during this 
administration? 

The Washington Monument, which reached its full height 
— 555 feet — Dec. 6, 1884, and was dedicated with imposing 
ceremonies Feb. 21, 1885. (The corner stone of this monu- 
ment was laid July 4, 1848.) 

1002. What was the Readjuster movement in Virginia state 
politics? 

An attempt to make political capital out of a partial repudi- 
ation of the state debt. In 1879, the Readjuster Democrats, 
headed by Gens. Mahone and Riddleberger, secured a major- 
ity in the state legislature, and repudiated some thirteen mill- 
ions of the state debt, on the ground that it represented "in- 
terest which accrued during the war and the reconstruction." 
One-third of the original debt hav'ng already been repudiated 
as u West Virginia's share," this readjustment left about twen- 
ty millions of acknowledged debt, and this the Readjusters 
offered to fund in taxable 3-per-cent bonds. (As the bond- 
holders have so far refused to refund, they seem likely to get 
nothing.) The scheme proved a winning one in politics, and 
Mahone and Riddleberger were both elected to the United 
States senate. Moreover, though the Bourbons have regained 
power, they have felt obliged to continue the repudiation. 

1003. How was the repudiation movement regarded at the 
north? 

At first as immoral and scandalous and altogether indefens- 
ible. Then tolerable, if not excusable as a political expedi- 
ent, and finally defensible on the ground that the Bourbon 
Democrats have been proved to be not more honestly inclined. 



192 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



The next step (perhaps already taken) places it on the list of 
tabooed matters not to be censured in the public schools. 

1004. What was the result of the autumn elections of 1882? 
The result showed remarkable gains by the Democrats in 

the northern states and in the congressional elections. Dem- 
ocratic governors were elected in California, Colorado, Con- 
necticut, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Neva- 
da, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the retiring governor in each 
instance being a Republican. The congressional election 
showed a net gain of fifty-six members for the Democrats. 
(There was an inexplicable failure to vote on the part of the 
Republicans, rather than any increase in the Democratic 
vote.) 

1005. What candidates were nominated, in the presidential 
canvass of 1884? 

The Republicans met at Chicago and nominated James G. 
Blaine and John A. Logan. The Democratic convention, 
held also at Chicago, put forward Grover Cleveland and 
Thomas A. Hendricks. The Greenback- Labor or "People's 
Party" met at Indianapolis, and nominated Benjamin F. But- 
ler and A. M. West of Mississippi. The Prohibition conven- 
* tion assembled at Pittsburgh and nominated John P. St. John 
of Kansas and William Daniel of Maryland. 

1006. What was the result of the election? 

Victory for the Democratic candidates, but by so close a 
vote that the result was for some days disputed. A plurality 
of about 1,100 votes was finally shown for Cleveland in New 
York state, and this threw the entire electoral vote of the 
state for the Democrats and elected their ticket. The electoral 
vote stood: Cleveland and Hendricks 219 votes; Blaine and 
Logan 182. The large vote called out had its effect in the 
congressional election and the Democratic majority of sev- 
enty-two in the house was cut down to thirty-nine. 

1007. What can you say of the successful candidates? 
Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. He became a 

lawyer and practiced at Buffalo, N. Y., where he was elected 
mayor on a reform ticket in 1881 ;in 1882 a similar movement 
led to his nomination for governor and he was elected by an 
unprecedented majority. His conduct as a mayor and as 
governor won him many friends, and the fact that he was 
able to "carry New York" made his nomination certain. 
Hendricks had been candidate for vice president in the mem- 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



T 93 



orable contest of 1876. He was born in 1819 near Zanesville, 
Ohio. He was a lawyer and prominent Indiana politician 
and had represented his state in the United States senate in 
1863-69. 



chapter xxiii. — Cleveland's administration. 

1008. For what was the beginning of Cleveland's adminis- 
tration notable? 

For its moderation in making changes in the existing civil 
service, which was almost entirely composed of Republicans. 
(During the first six months, only about one eighth of the ser- 
vice became Democratic, whether by removal, resignation or 
retirement, at expiration of term, of Republican incumbents.) 

1009. What was the " World's Fair" of 1884-85? 

An international exposition held at New Orleans from De- 
cember, 1884, to June, 1885. It was intended especially to 
encourage commercial relations with Mexico and South 
America. 

1010. What similar institution is proposed? 

A permanent, or at least perennial,"Three Americas Fair" at 
Washington, D. C. A congress of the nations of the Western 
Hemisphere has also been invited to meet at Washington, to 
devise means of promoting international commerce in spite 
of the tariff. 

1011. What new attempt was made, in 1884-85, to lower the 
tariff? 

The "Morrison tariff bill"— so called from its author, W. R. 
Morrison of Illinois, — which was rejected by both the forty- 
eighth and forty-ninth congresses. The principle of the bill 
was a general reduction of duties 20 per cent, without any at- 
tempt to revise the tariff laws or correct their inequalities^ 

1012. What is the fisheries question that has arisen between 
the United States and Canada? 

The trouble seems to have been brought about by the New 
England fishermen. The treaty of Washington, concluded in 
1871, secured to American vessels inshore fishing rights on 
Canadian coasts, and as a reciprocal favor took off the duty 
on Canadian fish. In 1883, the New England fishermen per- 
suaded congress to abrogate the fishery clauses of the treaty — 
saying that the privileges accorded by Canada were worthless. 
This was done, and in 1886 the duty was restored on Canadian 



194 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



salt fish, and Canada began to deny to American fishing ves- 
sels all rights not expressly guaranteed to them by treaty. 

1013. Is this the extent of Canada's misdemeanor? 

No; if it were, the New England fishermen might be left 
to enjoy the situation they themselves have invited. Canada 
has, it is said, gone further and ill-treated American fishing 
vessels by making illegal seizures and denying commercial 
rights that should have been accorded to us. The difficulty 
is, however, to secure an agreement as to the existing rights 
of our fishermen on Canadian shores. A treaty with that end 
in view, was negotiated with Canada in 1888, but it was reject- 
ed by the senate as inadequate. 

1014. What change of policy as to Central American canals 
was made by Cleveland's administration? 

One of the last acts of Arthur's administration was the 
making of a treaty with Nicaragua, looking to the construc- 
tion of the proposed Nicaragua ship canal at the expense of 
the United States, said canal to be controlled exclusively by 
the tw r o countries signing the treaty. This treaty was sup- 
pressed by the new administration, as undesirable in itself 
and as a violation of the Clay ton-Bulwer treaty with England 

101 5. What were the labor strikes of 1886? 

Labor troubles seemed to culminate in 1886. This was 
chiefly owing to the confidence inspired in workingmen by- 
extensive labor organization. The knights of labor, especially, 
claimed a membership of 500,000, and vaunted their organiza- 
tion as practically invincible. In March, 1886, an extensive 
strike was begun by the employes of the Southern Pacific 
railroad ; this, though supported by the knights of labor, failed 
utterly after two months' trial. Similar strikes, generally un- 
provoked, were begun the same spring. There was at this 
time an attempt to establish a working day of eight hours. 

1016. Give figures showing the extent of recent labor 
troubles. 

For the six years ending Dec. 31, 1886, the commissioner 
of labor reports that there were 3,903 strikes and 2,182 lock- 
outs in this country. The total number of employes involved 
was 1,478,172. Of the strikes 463^ per cent were successful, 
13% partly so and 40 per cent failed. The losses of employers 
is given at $34,164,914; that of the strikers (in wages) as $59,- 
948,882. 

1017. What especially discredited the strikers in 1886? 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



195 



The attempts of conspirators to overthrow the local author- 
ities and establish anarchy. In Chicago seven policemen were 
killed with a dynamite bomb. This aroused the people to a 
sense of the danger to public safety from riotous demonstra- 
tions and public sympathy was temporarily withdrawn from 
the strikers. 

1018. What effect has the labor agitation had upon con- 
gress ? 

Congressmen, with a view to the satisfaction of the work- 
ingmen, have, in many ways, tried to show "sympathy with 
Labor." So far little has been done beyond the collection 
and publication of statistics. Enforced arbitration by govern- 
ment commissioners has been proposed in the case of strikes. 
Indirectly, too, congress has taken the side of the striker by 
restricting Chinese immigration, and prohibiting the importa- 
tion of laborers under contract. 

1019. What is the alien land law? 

In 1887 an act was passed to prohibit the acquisition of real 
estate in the territories by aliens. Some of the states have 
passed similar laws barring the transfer of title to foreigners, 
and discriminating against foreigners already owning land in 
this country. 

1020. What was the presidential succession bill? 

An act passed in January, 1886, to provide a successor to 
the presidency, in case of a vacancy in the office of vice presi- 
dent. The right of succession is vested in the members of 
the cabinet — in a prescribed order,beginning with the secretary 
of state — and not, as heretofore, in the president of the senate 
and the speaker of the house. 

102 1. What was the electoral count bill? 

A bill passed in December, 1886, to regulate the electoral 
vote for president and the counting of the same by congress. 
It changes the date of election by the colleges from December 
to January, and prescribes rules for the counting, to prevent a 
dispute like that of 1876. 

1022. What was the inter-state commerce bill? 

In January, 1887, congress passed an act for the regulation 
of the freight and passenger charges made by inter-state rail- 
ways and other transportation companies. As far back as 
1873 an agitation for the legal government of railway charges 
was begun, and many of the western states had passed laws 
accordingly. The necessity for federal legislation arose from 



196 



THE LAND WE LIVE IN. 



the lack of state authority over the "through freight" traffic. 
A permanent commission was appointed to see to the enforce- 
of the law. 

1023. What policy has been maintained toward the Indians? 
Hostility has been repressed with some sternness. In 1885 

the Apaches, spared by Gen. Crook on their promise of good 
behavior, again went on the war path. Much time was spent 
in pursuing them, but in September, 1886, the last of the hos- 
tiles surrendered and were carried to Florida to be kept under 
strict surveillance. The general policy of the government 
toward the Indians now is to educate them, break up the res- 
ervations and the tribal organization, and establish each Indian 
family on its own farm, to be hereafter subject to the ordinary 
laws of the land. 

1024. What is the government policy toward the Mormons? 

The forty-ninth congress, in 1887, passed a still more rigor- 
ous anti-Mormon law, framed by Senator Edmunds to meet 
the deficiencies of his former bill. It is intended to vex and 
discourage Mormon polygamists, and thus make polygamy 
unpopular in Utah; also to break the power of the Mormon 
church by disfranchising its members, dissolving its corpora- 
tion and confiscating its property. 

1025. Where is the Lick Observatory and for what is it 
notable? 

It is situated on Mt^Hamilton, near San Francisco, Cal. It 
is noted for the possession of the largest refractor telescope in 
the world. This telescope was completed and set up in 1888. 

1026. What is the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty? 

A gigantic statue of "Liberty enlightening the World," de- 
signed by M. Bartholdi of France. It was presented by the 
French people to the United States, and was set up in the 
harbor of New York, where it was formally dedicated Oct. 28, 
1886. 

1027. What impetus has been given to manufactures in the 
Ohio Valley during the last few years? 

The discovery and use of natural gas. This cheapened the 
item of fuel—always a costly one in manufacture by the aid 
of machinery — and led to a great increase of factories in the 
localities where the gas was to be had. 



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